Kitobni o'qish: «Ossetian fairy tales in English»
Reading rules
A brief table to read the Ossetian proper names and terms used in this book.
Alphabet
Oss. alph. letter
Correspondence in the English alphabet (or explanation)
Correspondence in the French alphabet (or explanation)
كلمة مكافئة في اللغة العربية
А а
A a, like ar in far in English
A a
آ
Æ æ
Æ æ
is pronounced like the English accentless “a”, as in the words above, amount, aside. It retains this pronunciation even under accent. In contrast to the open clear “a” it can be pronounced as “a” “through the teeth”.
It is important to distinguish between a and æ:
dar – keep; dær – even, too
dum – say, say; dæm – you have
Æ æ
أ
Б б
B b
B b
ب
В в
V v
V v
ڤ / ف
Г г
G g
like g in go
G g
ج بالمصير، أو گ باللهجة العراقية
Гъ гъ
Gh gh
The gh sound is a phonatory correspondence of the deaf h. It is close to Tajik ғ, French r
Gh gh
Le son gh est une correspondance phonatoire du h sourd. Il est proche du tadjik ғ, du français r
غ
Д д
D d
D d
د
Дж дж
J j
J j
ج
Дз дз
Dz dz
Dz dz
دْز
Е е
Ye ye (like in the word “Yes”)
Ye ye
يَ
Ё ё
Yo yo
Yo yo
يو
Ж ж
Zh zh
like s in pleasure
Zh zh
ج مثل ج باللهجة المغريبية
З з
Z z
Z z
ز
И и
I i (Y y)
I i (Y y)
ي
Й й
Y y
Y y
ئ
К к
K k
K k
ك
Къ къ
K’ k’
to pronounce k’, you should try to pronounce the sound k, but abruptly interrupt, as if firing the sound. In this case, the air is not released, as when pronouncing “k”
K’ k’
pour prononcer “k”, il faut essayer de prononcer le son k, mais l'interrompre brusquement, comme si l'on tirait sur le son. Dans ce cas, l'air n'est pas relâché, comme lors de la prononciation du “k”
ﯖ
Л л
L l (always a harsh sound)
L l (toujours un son dur)
ل (صوت قوي دائمًا)
М м
M m
M m
م
Н н
N n
N n
ن
О о
O o
O o
او
П п
P p
P p
پ
Пъ пъ
P’ p’
when pronouncing p’, the larynx closes for a while, and the explosion is carried out by the air supply that was in the supraglottic region
P’ p’
lors de la prononciation de p’, le larynx se ferme pendant un moment et l'explosion est réalisée par la réserve d'air qui se trouvait dans la région supraglottique
ڥ
Р р
R r
Like the solid sound r in Spanish, Italian, Russian
R r
Comme le son solide r en espagnol, italien, russe
ر
С с
S s
S s
س
Т т
T t
T t
ت
Тъ тъ
T’ t’
during pronunciation, the larynx closes for a while, and the explosion is carried out by the air supply that was in the supraglottic region
T’ t’
lors de la prononciation, le larynx se ferme pendant un certain temps et l'explosion est réalisée par la réserve d'air qui se trouvait dans la région supraglottique.
ڟ
حرف ط متوتر
أثناء النطق تنغلق الحنجرة لفترة، ويتم الانفجار عن طريق إمداد الهواء الذي كان موجودًا في المنطقة فوق المزمارية
У у
U u
Like oo in moon
A long vowel
The combination of wæ (ua) is an open syllable
U u
Comme dans le mot
Une voyelle tongue
La combinaison wæ est une syllabe ouverte.
و
صوت "و" طويل
Ф ф
F f
F f
ف
Х х
H h
H h
خ
Хъ
Q q
for the pronunciation of q, one should try to pronounce h, but, also, by abruptly interrupting, without letting the air out, as when pronouncing q. (See earlier).
Q q
pour la prononciation de q, il faut essayer de prononcer h, mais aussi en interrompant brusquement, sans laisser sortir l'air, comme lorsqu'on prononce q. (Voir plus haut).
ق
Ц ц
C c
C c
تْس
Цъ цъ
C’ c’
when pronouncing the sound, the larynx closes for a while, and the explosion is carried out by the air supply that was in the supraglottic region
C’ c’
lors de la prononciation du son, le larynx se ferme pendant un certain temps et l'explosion est réalisée par la réserve d'air qui se trouvait dans la région supraglottique.
ڗ
عند نطق الصوت ڗ أو تْس‘، تنغلق الحنجرة لفترة، ويتم الانفجار عن طريق إمداد الهواء الذي كان في المنطقة فوق المزمارية
مثل تْس متوتر
Ч ч
Č č
Č č
تْش \ چ
Чъ чъ
Č’ č’
when pronouncing the sound, the larynx closes for a while, and the explosion is carried out by the air supply that was in the supraglottic region
Č’ č’
lors de la prononciation du son, le larynx se ferme pendant un certain temps et l'explosion est réalisée par la réserve d'air qui se trouvait dans la région supraglottique.
ݗ
عند نطق الصوت ݗ
أو تْش‘ (تْش متوتر)، تنغلق الحنجرة لفترة، ويتم الانفجار عن طريق إمداد الهواء الذي كان في المنطقة فوق المزمارية
Ш ш
Š š
Š š
ش
Щ щ
Shush shsh
Shsh shsh
ش
"ش" في كلمة شرطة او شوكة
Ы ы
Y y / ɨ
Y y / ɨ
ي بعد ص
Э э
E e
Like e in end
E e
Come
أيِه
Ю ю
Yu yu
Yu yu
يُو
Я я
Ya ya
Ya ya
يَا
About the author
Kozhiev Alexander Yurieviç – is a postgraduate student of MEPhI, a teacher of Arabic at the Foreign Language Learning Center (FLLC) of the Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation. Graduated from:
– Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, during the studies mastered Arabic and French languages;
– National Research Nuclear University MEPhI, confirmed knowledge of Spanish;
– MGIMO of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation (double-degree Master's program with the Italian University of Cagliari), confirmed knowledge of Italian and German languages.
Educated in economics and politics, I still find myself looking back at Ossetian folk art. Ossetian fairy tales and tales have left the greatest imprint on me. These works should not be understood literally, but allegorically, because so much wisdom is hidden even where it seems to find little. All works of Ossetian literature are written in an allegorical way, and the reader has to guess it for him/herself.
I decided to write Ossetian fairy tales in English to better popularize Ossetian literature on a global scale. This will not only preserve cultural heritage, but also bring the wisdom of works of Ossetian folklore to a wider audience, opening new horizons for understanding and perception of Ossetian culture. Subsequently, Ossetian tales will be translated into other foreign languages (Arabic, Persian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Swedish and Hungarian).
Kozhiev George Yurieviç provided great help in collecting Ossetian fairy tales, recording them, as well as in editorial work, thanks to which we can enjoy the narration from the words of elderly people who talked about previously unwritten fairy tales.
Introduction
Ossetian tales are a wonderful world where the history, culture and philosophy of the people are intertwined. They are an integral part of Ossetian spirituality and are passed on from generation to generation, retaining their relevance and significance.
The Nart Saga is the crown jewel of Ossetian oral folk tradition. These epic poems recount the exploits of the Narts – heroic characters with supernatural powers. The Narts symbolize strength, wisdom and justice, and their stories inspire and teach.
Among the characters, Soslan (a fearless warrior known for his strength and skill), Batraz (a wise man and advisor whose words are always full of deep meaning) and Satana (a female warrior symbolizing a mother and protector) are particularly prominent.
Nart Saga will not appear in this edition, as it requires more detailed consideration. In this collection of Ossetian tales you will encounter the Ossetian worldview and stories that are useful for children and adults alike.
Ossetian fairy tales carry a deep philosophical meaning. They teach respect for elders, love for the motherland, the value of friendship and brotherhood. Each fairy tale is not just a story, but a life lesson that helps to shape the moral values and identity of the people.
These tales are not just a literary heritage, they are a living source of wisdom that continues to influence Ossetian culture and art. Their importance cannot be overestimated, as they help preserve the uniqueness and identity of the Ossetian people.
It is also important to note that Ossetian fairy tales are not only a national treasure, but also an important part of the world's cultural heritage. They take us back to an ancient era when wisdom was passed on through oral stories, and every word had weight.
The international significance of Ossetian fairy tales lies in their universality and timelessness. They touch upon themes that are relevant to people of all cultures:
– The struggle between good and evil – an eternal theme that never loses its relevance.
– Strength of character and fortitude – qualities that are valued in any society.
– Respect for nature and ancestors – a reminder that we must protect the world around us and remember our roots.
The hidden meaning of Ossetian tales suggests that wisdom has no boundaries. It penetrates through centuries and peoples, enriching the human experience. These tales teach us to appreciate the world we live in and the people we share it with.
Ossetian fairy tales are a symbol of how culture can be a bridge connecting different eras and peoples. They show that wisdom and knowledge are what make us truly human, and that they should be preserved and passed on to future generations.
Ossetian tales and fairy tales are rich in a variety of characters, each with a unique role and meaning. The main characters are aldars (wise elders or ancestors who often act as mentors and counselors. They symbolize a connection to the past and the transmission of knowledge), animals (in Ossetian tales, animals often have human traits and wisdom. They can be helpers of the heroes or even bearers of important messages), wizards and sorcerers (characters represent knowledge of secret sciences and magic. They can both help the heroes and become a source of trials), warrior heroes (brave and strong characters who protect their people and demonstrate valor and honor), nymphs and nature spirits (mystical beings who represent the forces of nature and can both help and hinder the heroes), giants and monsters (trials for the heroes, symbolizing the overcoming of difficulties and inner fears), and ordinary people (peasants, artisans, who represent everyday life and often become unexpected heroes of fairy tales). Each character contributes to the development of the plot and the education of the listener or reader, as they help to convey the deep meaning embedded in the tales, making them a valuable source of knowledge and life lessons.
Ossetian tales and myths have much in common with Iranian, Indian and European traditions, reflecting common archetypes and motifs that are common to many cultures. Let us present just a few of these similarities:
Heroic figures: All these traditions have heroes who perform feats and protect their people, reminiscent of Rustam from the Iranian epic “Shahnameh” or bogatyrs from Slavic mythology.
Wise elders: Characters like Aldars in Ossetian tales are similar to the sages and mentors of other cultures, such as Vasishtha in Indian epics or Merlin in English legends.
Mystical creatures: Nymphs and nature spirits resemble characters from Greek mythology and European fairy tales, as well as apsaras from Indian mythology.
Villains and monsters: The giants and monsters that appear in Ossetian tales have analogs in the myths of the Cyclopes, the demon Rakshasas and various European dragons and trolls.
These similarities point to common human themes and universal stories that resonate across cultures despite geographic and language barriers. Characters and plots reflect universal values, fears, hopes and dreams that are part of the human experience around the world.
Let's quickly familiarize ourselves with our fairy tales!
How a mouse got married
Once upon a time, there was a mouse. It occurred to him to get married. He was very proud, so all mouse girls seemed unworthy to him. He was looking for the daughter of someone stronger than him.
So he went to the Moon, about whom it was said that there was no one stronger than him in the world.
– “Moon!”, – he said to him. “I am looking for the daughter of the strongest man in the world. They say in our land that there is no one stronger than you, and I would like to be related to you.”
– “Yes”, – the Moon answered to him. “I am strong beyond words, and there is no place or nook on earth where my light does not penetrate when I walk across the sky at night. But when the Sun rises in the morning, my light gradually dims and finally disappears. Only in the evening, when the Sun goes down and its light ceases to shine on the earth, does my power return to me and I illuminate the vast earth again. No, mouse, the Sun will be stronger than me: go to him!”
So the mouse went to the Sun.
– “Sun”, – she said to him. “I am looking for the daughter of the strongest man in the world to marry. And there is a rumor that you are the strongest in the world. Will you give your daughter for me?”
– “It is true that I am strong and powerful”, – replied the Sun. “And when I rise in the morning, the darkness of the night dissipates without a trace. The stars and the Moon himself do not dare to shine in my presence, their light on earth fades before my light, and they cannot be seen at that time from the earth. But there is someone stronger than me. It is the cloud that obscures my light, that shuts out the earth from me. So go to the cloud.”
So, the mouse went to the cloud and made his proposal. The cloud thought about it and said:
– “It was truly said by the Sun: his light is strong, and the stars and the Moon pale before him, but it cannot shine on the earth when I cover the sky with a great carpet, and it cannot be seen then. But neither can I resist the wind. When it blows, it tears me to shreds and scatters me across the sky… No, the wind is stronger than me!”
So the mouse went to the wind. But even the wind did not recognize himself as the strongest.
– “It is true”, – he said. “I'm strong and I can destroy a cloud with a single blow. But there's someone stronger than me. There are bulls in the field: even if there are only a couple of them, I can't do anything to them. Calmly, peacefully they walk down the lane as if they don't feel me. They'll be stronger than me.”
The mouse turned to the bulls. The bulls told her:
– “We are strong, but sometimes the plow can overpower us when it gets caught on something in the ground. And even when the master harnesses four more pairs to us, even then we can't do anything. The plow is stronger than us.”
The mouse went to the plow. The plow said to her:
– “It is true that I am strong, and I cut the damp earth without any difficulty. But there is one root that often stops me, and I cannot cut it. Go therefore, mouse, to him, he is much stronger than I.”
The mouse had to turn to the root.
– “Yes, I am strong”, – replied the root. “And the plow cannot cut me another time. But a mouse, even the smallest one, can chew me up very easily. So the mice are stronger than me.”
– “Aha!” – exclaimed the mouse. “So, there's no one stronger than us, mice!”
So he married a simple mouse.
The goat and the hare
Once upon a time there lived an old man and an old woman. They had a daughter. They had only one goat out of their livestock.
One day the old man left home and instructed his daughter to take the goat to the steppe and graze her to its fullest.
The girl drove the goat to the steppe, grazed her and then brought her home. In the evening the old man asked the goat how she had been grazing. The goat answered that it was bad. Then the old man sent his daughter away from home.
The next day the old man gave his wife the task of grazing the goat. She drove the goat, grazed her and brought her home in the evening. The old man asked the goat how she had been grazed. She said that the old woman had grazed her in a bad manner too. The old man chased his wife out of the house.
On the third day the old man changed his clothes and sent the goat to graze. He grazed her well, and the goat ate enough grass. In the evening he brought the goat home, dressed in his old clothes and asked the goat how the old man had grazed him. The goat said about the old man that he had grazed her in a bad manner too and she had not had enough grass.
So, the old man tied the goat with ropes and went out to sharpen his knife to slaughter her. While he was sharpening the knife, the goat broke the ropes and ran into the forest. In the forest the goat went into the hare's house and climbed on the stove. In the evening the hare came home, saw the goat and was afraid to enter the house. He sat down at the threshold and began to cry.
A bear passed by and asked him:
– “Why are you crying?”
The hare told him about his grief and the bear sat down beside him. A wolf appeared and asked the hare:
– “What happened to you, why are you crying?”
The hare told him about his grief. The wolf sympathized and sat down beside him – he could not help in any other way. The fox came, and the hare told her about his grief too. Finally, the rooster came and asked the hare:
– “What happened to you, what are you crying about?”
When the hare told him about his grief, he stood at the door and shouted three times at the top of his voice:
– cock-a-doodle-do!
The goat was frightened and flew off the stove, her legs broke, and she gave up her life.
The hare and his friends had a great feast. They ate the goat's fatty meat, leaving her legs and horns for the old woman.
The jinn king and the poor man
Once upon a time there was an old man and an old woman. They lived in poverty. The old man went hunting, and if the hunt was successful, they were fed, but if the hunt was unsuccessful, they sat in their poor shack hungry.
One day the old man hunted all day and met no one. And his wife hoped that he would bring something and they would eat.
The old man was tired and thirsty. He saw a lake and went to it to drink water. But when he reached the water, someone grabbed him by his beard and started pulling towards him.
The old man began to beg:
– “I am an old man, let me go, don't pull me towards you!”
But the one who was pulling him replied:
– “I will turn you into a young man, if only you can be useful!”
And dragged the old man after him. Out of the lake a door opened into the sea. They passed these doors and went on. From the sea a door to the land opened, and they went on land.
The Jinn King lived there. He greeted the old man with joy and said to him:
– Hello, guest! The stakes of my wattle are missing one head, and I will stake your head unless you fulfill my demand. If you do, I will give you my daughter.
The poor man looked around, and when he saw the human heads on the stakes of the wattle, his heart fell: “And my head will be cut off!” he thought.
The Jinn King gave three tasks and promised to marry his daughter to the one who would fulfill all three of them. Pointing to a field lined with stacks of wheat, he gave the poor man the first task:
– Put the wheat grain in the barns before morning, but make sure that the stacks are not moved.
The poor man thought about it and became sad:
– “He makes me do the impossible! He’ll have my head on the stake of the wattle!”
And he was no longer an old man: the one who pulled his beard made him a young man, and when the daughter of the Jinn King saw him, she liked him. She saw that he was sitting sad, and asked:
– “What's wrong with you? Why are you sitting sad?”
– “What makes me sad?” he answered. “Your father has given me a task that is utterly impossible to accomplish. I will fail, and my head will be cut off.”
– “Don't let it make you sad,” said the daughter of the Jinn King. “We shall accomplish everything! In the evening I will call all the mice I have, and they will pour all the wheat grain into the barns.”
In the evening, the daughter of the Jinn King calls the mice with a shout:
– “Mice, wherever you are, come here and pour into the barns until morning all the grains that are in the haystacks, so that not a single grain is lost and that the haystacks are not moved from their places.”
All the mice gathered, which only existed in the world, and did not leave a single grain in the haystacks, poured them into the barns, and the haystacks were not even moved.
The Jinn King got up in the morning and asked the young man:
– “Well, did you do anything?” And the king's daughter warned him:
– Your father will ask you naggingly, but don't be afraid, do your work, and let it be what pleases God.
The Jinn King, without saying anything, gave him a second task:
– “A church must appear in my courtyard overnight, but it must be made of wax and nothing else.”
The young man, poor man, became anxious and thought, “God has cursed me.” He sits sad again, and the king's daughter said to him:
– “Don't despair, it's easy to do. Today I will gather all the bees I have, and by morning the church will be ready.”
She called out to the bees and said to them:
– “Build a church of pure wax overnight!”
The evening came. The bees began to work so hard that by morning the church was ready.
In the morning, the Jinn King got up, went outside, looked around the courtyard and saw the church of pure wax.
And the king's daughter warned the young man in advance:
– “Don't wait for the third task, it's impossible, and I can't help you. We must both run away from here!”
The young man got into the boat with the girl, and they started to flee; the Jinn King found out about it when they were already far away, and sent a large chase after them.
Meanwhile, the fugitives came to the shore of the lake, and the daughter of the Jinn King, who had a magic gift, made it so that they turned into a pair of ducks, a male and a female, they began to frolic in the lake.
The chase also went to the shore of the lake – there was no one. They searched everywhere, but found nothing, and they paid no attention to the ducks.
The chase turned back to the Jinn King. He asked them:
– “Well, what did you come back with? Didn't you catch up with them?”
– “We didn't see anything anywhere!” – They answered. “We only noticed two ducks, a male and a female, in one lake.”
The Jinn King was saddened:
– “I forgot to warn you, so you did not recognize them. It was them. Chase them down, catch them and bring them here.”
And the daughter of the Jinn King had a gift of prophecy. She said to the young man:
– “Father has recognized us! There is a new chase after us, let's run!”
They ran, looking back, and saw a chase behind them in the distance. The girl said to the young man:
– “We can't run any farther. I will make a church appear here; one of us will become a priest and the other a deacon, and we will not be recognized.”
A church appeared and they became a deacon and a priest.
The members of the chase saw the church and thought that the fugitives might hide there. But seeing only the priest and deacon there, who were performing divine service, they were ashamed to interrupt them and turned back on their way. And on the way back they looked everywhere for the fugitives, but found them nowhere; so they returned home.
The Jinn King asked:
– “Well, have you found them?”
And they answered again:
– “We did not meet even local people on the way. Only in one place a priest and a deacon were performing divine service in a church, and we did not see anyone else.”
The Jinn King said:
– “It was them, but you did not recognize them. Now you won't be able to find them anymore! My daughter failed to recognize herself! She was a rascal and she ran away like a rascal! There's nothing we can do about her now, let's leave them.”
The daughter of the Jinn King recognized that the chase had turned back, and said to her husband:
– “Now let's go without fear!”
They came to his house. The old woman had already died, but her house under a thatched roof stood as before.
– “Here is our house for you!” – said the young man to his wife. “This is how poor I have lived!”
And his wife replied:
– “Property is a matter of time. Don't worry about that.”
She made a request to God:
– “Let there be tall houses on this spot before morning!”
And in the morning they woke up and saw tall houses. And the daughter of the Jinn King said again:
– “Let these houses be filled with gold ornaments as needed! Let there be garments for my husband of costly fabrics to dress himself from head to toe! And let the best of women's garments appear for myself, with two shifts!” And she also asked: “God, let there be a table the whole length of our house, filled with abundant food and drink!”
The husband and wife sat down at the table, partook of their food, and had heartfelt conversations with each other about their love. And they would not admire each other. Then she said again:
– “Let a guard stand at our doors, that we may be rid of idle visitors.”
So they made a life and live to this day.
As you have not seen them, so may you see no other misfortune, no other disease, and may God grant us a safe deliverance from this place.
The poor man and the rich khan
In ancient times, a certain man called his son to him and gave him three instructions: never take orphans into your home, but support them outside your family; never lend money to someone richer than you; never reveal your innermost thoughts to your wife.
When he gave these instructions to his son, he asked him to fulfill these instructions sacredly, not to violate them in any way, for violating them would put the son in a difficult situation.
Soon the father died, and the son wanted to experience in his life the truth of his father's instructions. He took orphans into his house to bring them up. Then he lent money to khan, who was richer than him. He kept the orphans well and did not abuse them in anything.
When the agreed term passed, he asked the khan to pay his debt. The khan got angry, ordered his servants to beat him and threatened him:
– “What money are you talking about? If you remind me of your debt one more time, a great misfortune will befall your head!”
In retaliation, the angry poor man stole a herd of khan's horses and put his tamga on them. But he was not satisfied with that. Thinking that this revenge was not enough for the khan, he decided to kidnap his son from him as well. For he did so: he kidnapped his only son from the khan and sent him to school to study.
The Khan began to search for his son and horses. His search was in vain, and then he turned to a sorceress for help and advice:
– “I can't find my son and the horses that were stolen from me!” – he said to her. “Such a case has never happened! Help me!”
The sorceress said to him:
– “Do not look for them in vain, and do not demand them from anyone except the one from whom you borrowed the money and have not repaid.”
The khan had to be sure of this, so he asked the sorceress to find out from the poor man's wife whether her husband had really stolen his son and horses.
The sorceress came to the poor man's wife's house and, as if sympathizing with her, said:
– “Thy husband has suffered innocently, he asked for payment of the debt, and the rich khan ordered him to be beaten.”
The wife of the poor man said to the sorceress in reply:
– “I know nothing about it, my husband has told me nothing.”
– “What kind of a wife are you in such a case, if your husband does not tell you about his affairs!” – said the sorceress to her.
So she left this time without knowing anything. In the evening the poor man's wife told her husband about the visit of the sorceress. He answered her only this way:
– “To whom what he has got, that is what belongs to him.”
The next day the sorceress came again to the poor man's wife and asked:
– “Well, again you have learned nothing?”
– “He told me only this,” she replied: "Whoever gets what, let it be good for him!”
The rejoiced sorceress hurriedly came to the khan and said to him:
– “Did I not tell you that the horses and your son are with the one from whom you borrowed money and did not pay!”
Then the khan calls the poor man to him and asked him:
– “Do you have my son and horses?”
– “I have them!” – answered the poor man.
– “In that case I cede my khanate to you, you should be the khan, not me.”
Meanwhile, the orphans, whom the poor man had taken into his family and had never wronged, turned against him, looking for an opportunity to kill him. And the poor man said:
– “How right my father was! I was convinced by my own experience of the truth of his instructions.”
The Wolf and the Seven Goats of Gazza
Once upon a time there was a poor man. His name was Gazza. He had only seven goats, nothing else was in his household. The first goat had one belly, the second had two bellies, the third three bellies, the fourth – four, the fifth – five, the sixth – six and the seventh had seven bellies.
Only around noon did the poor man let all seven goats go to graze.
One day, when they were grazing, the one-bellied goat said to the two-bellied one:
– “I've had enough, my belly is full. If you are full, let's go home.”
And the one-bellied goat replied:
– “My belly is still empty, wait for me.”
– “No, I'm going home”, – said the one-bellied goat. She was walking along the road, and a wolf meets her.
– “Whose are you?” – he asked.
– “I'm the goat of Gazza”, – she replied.
– “And what is that on your head and what is it for?” – The wolf points to her horns.
– “These are the tips for Gazza's pitchfork, in case he needs them.”
– “And what's that dangling between your legs? The wolf points to her udders.”
And that's a soft udder full of milk for my baby goat.
The wolf grabbed the goat and ate it. Then he went further along the road, stretched out there and watched, looking around.
The two-bellied goat has filled both its bellies, is satiated and turns to the three-bellied goat:
– “Let's go home!”
– “Wait a little”, – answered the one. “My belly is still empty.”
– “I will not wait for you”, – replied the two-bellied goat. “I'm going home.”
She went along the road and came across a wolf who was guarding the place.
– “Whose goat are you?” – asked the wolf.
– “I'm Gazza's goat”, – she replied.
– “What's that on your head?”
– “Gazza's pitchfork tips.”
– “And what's that dangling between your legs?”
– “It's a soft udder full of milk for my goat.”
– “I must eat her too!” – rejoiced the wolf. He jumped up to the goat, grabbed it and ate it.
Meanwhile, the three-bellied goat has had enough and said to the four-bellied one:
– “Let's go home!”
– “Wait a little”, – replied the three-bellied goat. “My belly is not quite full yet.”
– “Well, then stay in good health”, – said the three-bellied goat. “And I'm leaving.”
She went leisurely along the road. The wolf, already satiated, lay there and listened in order to catch anyone else who would show up. He raised his head and saw a goat walking along the road.
– “There is another goat”, – said the wolf to himself. “Today was a good day with God's help.”
The three-bellied goat came closer, and the wolf asked her:
– “Whose goat are you?”
– “I'm Gazza's goat”, – she replied.
– “And what is that on your head?” – he asked her.
– “And these are the tips for Gazza's pitchforks,” she answered just like the other goats.
– “And what is that dangling between your legs?”
– “And this is for my baby goat with a soft udder full of milk.”
The wolf seized the goat, and he pulled it up and said to himself:
– “I'm lucky today! And this goat tastes good.”
The three goats made the wolf completely bloated. Then he began to roll on the ground, and he felt better.
Meanwhile, the four-bellied goat has had enough and turns to the five-bellied goat:
– “Let's go home, five-bellied goat, our friends are probably resting at home.”
The five-bellied goat replied:
– “My one belly is not yet full, wait for me, and then we'll go home together.”
– “No, I'm going away”, – replied the four-bellied goat.
She went down the road, and the well-fed wolf was sleeping there. When he heard the footsteps, he woke up and raised his head, saw the goat and rejoiced.
– “God has given me a goat again”, – he said to himself. “She came to me by herself!”
– “Whose goat are you?” – asked the wolf.
– “I'm Gazza's goat.”
– “What's that on your head?”
– “Those are Gazza's pitchfork tips.”
– “What's that dangling between your legs?” – he asked her.
– “And that's a soft udder full of milk for my goat.”
The wolf pounced on the goat, grabbed her and ate her. Meanwhile, the five-bellied goat has had enough and turns to the six-bellied one:
– “Let's go home! It's time for us to go back!”
– “Wait for me a little, my belly is not quite full yet”, – asked the six-bellied one.
– “No”, – replied the six-bellied one, “I'm leaving, I won't wait for you.”
She went home along the familiar road. And the well-fed wolf is already waiting to see if anyone else is coming, and thinks:
“If there is no one else, I will leave here.”
The wolf sees a five-bellied goat coming.
– God has given another one”, – said the wolf to himself. “I'll wait for that goat too. I am fed, but how can I refuse eating it? I'd rather have a stomachache than let that goat live!”
– “Whose goat are you?” – asked the wolf, when the five-bellied goat is close to him.
– “I am Gazza's goat.”
– “And what kind of man is Gazza?”
– “Gazza is a modest man, a hard worker”, – replied the goat.
The wolf was afraid that Gazza might come out of the village and kill him. He looked around and asked the goat:
– “What is that on your head?”
– “Those are Gazza's pitchfork tips.”
– “And what is that dangling between your legs?”
– “Those are round stones used to kill wolves.”
– “I'll show you now how to kill wolves!” – said the wolf. He jumped on a five-bellied goat and ate it.
The six-bellied goat felt that it has had enough and speaks to the seven-bellied goat:
– “It's getting dark, it's time for us to go home. If I leave, you'll be alone here.”
– “Wait a bit!” – asked the seven-bellied goat. “Now I'll fill my seventh belly and then we'll go together.”
The six-bellied goat replied:
– “I'll walk slowly, you'll catch up with me on the way.”
She walked slowly along the road, and the seven-bellied goat got carried away and stayed in the pasture.
The six-bellied goat reached the wolf. The wolf saw that goat and thought about it:
– “I'll pull it up, of course, but I've had enough of it. All right”, – he said to himself. “I'll eat a little, and let the rest be for tomorrow.”
It was already getting dark. The wolf killed the goat, ate as much as he could, and put the rest for tomorrow. He stretched out on the road and thought like this:
– “From such satiety it will be difficult for me to go home, I will rest here, and then I will go.”
Meanwhile, a seven-bellied goat appeared on the road.
– “Another goat”, – said the wolf. “And how should I deal with it? Well, I'll hold her up, or she will run away, and tomorrow morning I'll eat her together with the rest of the other goat.”
The seven-bellied goat came to the wolf.
– “Whose goat are you?” he asked.
– “I am Gazza's goat.”
– “And what kind of man is Gazza?”
– “Gazza is a hunter who beats wolves.”
– “And what's that on your head?” – asked the wolf.
– “And these are iron sticks used to kill wolves.”
– “What is that dangling between your legs?” asked the wolf.
– “These are round stones used to kill wolves”, – replied the goat.
– “Ah”, said the wolf to himself. “Things are not going well!”
He decided to run away, left the goat alive, forcibly went to the roadside and, heavy with satiety, stretched there. The seven-bellied goat saw the scraps on the road and said:
– “Ah, that's what the wolf has done! He ate all my friends! Only at dusk, the seven-bellied goat reached home.”
Gazza asked her:
– “Why did you come home so late? Where are your friends?”
The goat answered to him:
– “My friends were torn and eaten by a wolf, I was the only one who escaped.”
– “Tell me, where, on what road did all this happen?”, – asked Gazza.
The goat told him where the wolf was.
Gazza grabbed his gun and hurried on his way.
But the wolf was lying there, unable to get up, just looking up from below, watching. Gazza can't see him yet because the wolf is stretched out on the roadside.
When he reached the place, the goat had mentioned, Gazza looked around. He was sure that the wolf was somewhere near him.
When he saw Gazza approaching him, the wolf tried to run, but he could not run fast, weighed down with exhaustion. Meanwhile, Gazza noticed him and started to catch up with him. It is hard to catch up with a satiated wolf! Gazza quickly caught up with him, shot him with his rifle and killed him.
Gazza returned home. He was left with one saved seven-bellied goat. He began to live happily ever after and has lived until today.
A deer, a bear and two hedgehogs
Once upon a time there were two hedgehogs. They lived in the forest in a hollow tree.
One day a woodcutter went to the forest and cut down the hollow tree. He brought it home and cut it into big pieces to make it easier to stoke. The woodcutter's wife took some logs and heated the stove with them. She wanted to cook a meal for her hungry husband.
The hedgehogs felt the heat and prayed to God:
– “O God, save us, and we shall give you thanks with ahsarfambalams from the lungs of the deer and honey on the chest of the bear!”
A stench came from the hedgehogs.
– “What stinking wood is this!” – said the mistress and threw the wood out of the stove.
The hedgehogs were afraid to run away during the day, so they hid, and at night they got out of the village. By morning they were already in the steppe and there they agreed that one of them would settle on one mound, and the second – on another, which was far away from the first.
So they did. Each lurked on his own mound. Meanwhile, a deer approached the first hedgehog. The hedgehog talked to him and offered him a wager:
– “Let us race against each other”, – he said. “On this condition: whoever of us reaches the next mound first can slaughter and eat the one who has fallen behind.”
And he pointed out to the deer the mound on which the second hedgehog was sitting.
The deer thought to himself: “How can that hedgehog outrun me?” And so he agreed.
And they lined up and said: “Let's run!” and they started running. The deer rushed forward with all his might, and the hedgehog ducked into the hedgerow and hid there.
When the deer reached the mound, the hedgehog said to him:
– “Where did you disappear? I am already waiting for you!”
The deer was very surprised:
– “Let's run again!” asked he the hedgehog.
– “All right”, – said the hedgehog. “Let's run back to our mound!”
The deer started to run, and the second hedgehog also snuck into the bush and hid. The deer ran as fast as he could, but when he reached the mound, he was surprised to see the hedgehog there.
– “Why are you so late”, – the hedgehog said to him, “I've been here for a long time!”
So the deer lost the bet, and the hedgehogs slaughtered him. They hid the carcass of the deer and went to the forest to look for honey. They found honey in a high hollow tree, took out the honeycomb and sat down in the tree.
Meanwhile, a bear was passing by the area. When he saw the hedgehogs, they had already been eating the honey.
– “Give me some honey too!” – asked the bear.
And they answered him:
– “Get it yourself!”
– “Show me where the honey is!” – said the bear to them.
– “There, you see, in the tree, the bees are flying there.” The bear climbed up the tree, took out some honeycomb and asked the hedgehogs:
– “How do I get them down?”
– “Lie down on your back and put the honeycomb on your chest, so you can bring them down to the ground.”
The bear obeyed the hedgehogs' advice. He lay down on his back, flew down from the top of the tree and crashed to his death.
The hedgehogs slaughtered the bear; they also brought the carcass of a deer. They made ahsarfambals from the deer's lungs, piled the honey on the bear's chest and prayed to the God:
– “O God, we thank Thee! You saved us, and we fulfill our word to you: we give thanks with honey on the bear's chest and ahsarfambals made of reindeer lungs!”
Widow's son
Once upon a time there lived a sorceress and Verahan the beautiful, the daughter of an aldar, a recluse of the tower. She was an unusually slender girl. Word about her spread throughout the world. The aldar did not give her away to anyone, though many people were trying to marry her. He kept her in a tower, and the tower was such that no one could find its doors without destroying its top.
One day the aldar announced:
– “I will only marry my daughter to the man who can destroy her tower.”
And the tower was unusually tall. The aldar gave a deadline of two days:
– “Whoever can destroy the tower will be my son-in-law”, – he said. “Let everyone try his prowess!”
The suitors began to flock from all sides. There were suitors from the Nart people. The sorceress's son showed up too. Everyone wanted to destroy the tower of the aldar daughter, but none of the suitors could think of a way.
The sorceress's son began to go around the people, hoping to find a good man among them. He entered a small house and found a widow with a boy lying in a cradle in front of her.
– “Do you have no one else?” – asked the sorceress's son.
– “There is no one else besides this child and myself”, – the widow answered him.
Then the boy in the cradle tore his bandages and turned to the son of the sorceress:
– “I am ready to fulfill your wishes!”
(And this boy was pointed out to her son by his mother, the sorceress: “There is such a young man born there, check him up!”) The son of the sorceress rejoiced and said to the boy:
– “May God give you years of life! You are the one I need, you will be useful to me.”
The boy made himself dressed and said;
– “I'm going out of the house!”
The sorceress's son took him, and they appeared before the assembled people. And on the way, the sorceress's son made a deal with the boy:
– “We shall do this in such a way: I will load a cannon with you and shoot you at the top of the tower. Maybe you'll be able to destroy it. There is no other means.”
– “All right!” – said the boy. “That's a good idea! I agree; if I get to the top of the tower and hold on there, I will proceed to destroy it with my heels; but if I fall off-anything is possible-then you be sagacious and don't let me touch the ground, or it will be my death.”
And he also added:
– “When you carry me, do not put me to the ground until you have carried me across the seven rivers.”
They loaded a cannon with the boy and shot him at the top of the tower. The boy got there, began to strike his heel from one side or the other and thus destroyed the tower. And the sorceress's son was watching him from below, making sure that he did not fall from there. Then the tower began to shake and the boy fell from it. The sorceress's son put up his hem, caught the boy and began to carry him across the rivers. When the sorceress's son carried him across the second river, Sirdon, the evil man, learned that if the boy was put on the ground, he would die and the girl would not go to the sorceress's son.
So Sirdon decided to deceive him. To prevent the sorceress's son from recognizing him, Sirdon changed his clothes and took on a different appearance.
The sorceress's son had already carried the boy across the second river and across the third. Then Sirdon was ahead of him and said:
– “Good man, where else are you carrying him? He is already dead, and the tower has already been destroyed, and the girl is passing by you into someone else's hands.”
But the sorceress's son did not believe him and carried the boy further. He carried him across another river – the fourth. He kept on his way, carrying the boy who had fallen from the tower.
Meanwhile, Sirdon again took on a different appearance and once again outpaced the sorceress's son:
– “Drop the dead man!” – he said to him. “You'll miss the girl!”
The sorceress's son was doubtful: perhaps it was true. But still he did not leave the boy.
When the sorceress's son was carrying the boy across the sixth river, Sirdon, taking on a different appearance, again overtook him and said:
– “What a madman you are, good man! You keep carrying a dead man! The girl will obviously go to one of the Nart people, and you will be left with nothing!”
This time the sorceress's son believed Sirdon and said to himself:
– “Indeed, if it came to that, where am I carrying this dead man? And I'm also losing a girl!”
He put the dead man on the ground and turned back to the tower.
Then the sorceress's son guessed:
– “It's all Sirdon's fault! And I have ruined the boy and achieved nothing!”
He came back, stood over the dead man and thought: “What else should I do? Take him to his mother? But what shall I tell her?”
Suddenly he remembered:
– “We have a felt whip, let me try it out! He came back and told his mother what had happened.”
– “I've come back for the felt whip”, – he said to his mother. “Will she be able to help the boy or not?”
His mother said to him:
– “You must try it, take it with you!”
The sorceress's son took the felt whip with him and hurried back to the place where he had left the dead man. He arrived there, struck the dead man several times with the felt whip and said:
– “May God turn you into what you were before!”
The boy raised himself up and said:
– “Oof, oof, how long I slept!”
The sorceress's son told him how it was, what had happened to him. The boy said to the sorceress's son:
– “If so, carry me across two more rivers, otherwise my case will be bad.”
The sorceress's son took the boy and carried him across two more rivers.
In the meantime, Sirdon tells the Narts:
– “I made him put the boy on the ground, and now, if it pleases the God, the girl will be ours.”
The Narts rejoiced and were happy.
Then the son of the sorceress appeared with the boy and asked the Narts:
– “What makes you happy, Narts? What are you happy about?”
– “What makes us happy? – replied the Narts. “Now we shall have Verahan!”
– “Well, all right”, – said the sorceress's son. “Let's see who is the bravest among us.”
The evening came and the aldar again informed the people:
– “Whoever still wants to try his luck, let him come tomorrow and the day after tomorrow.”
The sorceress's son took the boy not to the place where he was born, but to his home. He told his mother not to worry, her boy would sleep at his place tonight. He left food for the widow to eat and returned home.
After feeding the boy, he began to admonish him:
– “We must think about what we must do tomorrow. We shall load you into the cannon again and shoot you so that you will hit the top of the tower.”
On the second day, when the people were again gathered at the tower, the son of the sorceress brought the boy there and said to him:
– “Don't spare your strength! If we do not succeed this time, it will be more difficult.”
– “Do not doubt me”, – he replied. “Make sure that I get to the top of the tower, and then it will be what God wants.”
The people gathered in great numbers watched the son of the sorceress and the boy; the Narts were afraid that the girl would fall to them.
The sorceress's son loaded a cannon with the boy and fired. The boy found himself on the tower and started throwing it in all directions. People marveled at him, and the aldar himself marveled.
He destroyed the tower as he had to, as it had been agreed. The aldar stood up, took his daughter by the hand, led her out and said:
– “Today I recognize my son-in-law.” And the sorceress's son said:
– “She can't be given away as a boy; after all, everything has been done thanks to me!”
– “I recognize no one but this boy!” – replied the aldar. “My son-in-law is the one who destroyed the tower! Gather on such a day that I may meet my son-in-law!”
The appointed day came. The aldar prepared many kosarts, set tables, and the people sat down to feast. The sorceress's son also sat at the table, but he had not brought the boy with him.
The aldar handed his daughter a glass and said:
– “My daughter herself knows her soulmate. Whoever she hands the glass to will be her husband.”
The aldar's daughter went out with the glass, went around, looked at everyone, but did not hand the glass to anyone, turned back and sadly went to her room. She paid no attention to the son of the sorceress, who was sitting at the table, she did not even look at him.
The aldar gave an order:
– “Gather tomorrow everyone, adults and non-adults, worthy and unworthy – all without distinction!”
Again he set the tables. They gathered all the people they could. And the boy dressed himself in the clothes of a beggar and came to the feast; he tied a ring on his finger with a rag, saying that he had cut his hand.
People sat down at the tables. The girl took out a ladle of beer – a glass of honor – and began to walk around the tables, looking at people intently. But her gaze stopped on no one.
The boy sat at the edge of the table with the poor. The girl went there too. The boy untied the edge of the bandage so that the ring was visible. Verahan noticed the ring and brought a ladle of beer to the boy.
The people were very surprised:
– “Wow, to whom the aldar's daughter presented the glass!” The aldar said:
– “I'd rather accept my daughter death than her marriage with such a man!” When the people had dispersed, the young man said to the aldar:
– “I appoint a time till tomorrow night to show myself to you. There will be a gift for the occasion.”
The aldar thought to himself: “I had better not see his gift!”
So he made some preparations for the young man's arrival.
The poor widow's son was a golden-haired young man. He came to his father-in-law's house with five companions. The companions entered the house, greeted the bridegroom with joy and informed the aldar:
– “Come out to our son-in-law! Get acquainted with our son-in-law!” The aldar went out and, seeing him, said:
– “Oh God, thank you! I had no idea that he was like this! I've disgraced myself in front of all the people. We must prepare food and drink!”
So he set the tables with the chosen viands and drinks. And the young bridegroom said to them:
– “There is no one in my house but my old mother. I'll decide on the wedding myself. I will come for my bride in ten days.”
The aldar did not object, he only said: “All right, let's get her ready for that day!”
Everything was enough in the aldar's possession! He provided his daughter with everything she needed, and since he had no other children, he put half of his fortune in her name as long as he lived. Moreover, he wrote a paper that upon his death his entire fortune would pass to his daughter.
Ten days passed, and the poor widow's son came for his bride with his companions. The aldar received them very well, they stayed with him for a whole week, and then he sent them away with honor.
The son returned to his mother rich. And they began to live happily.
And after some time the aldar died. The widow with her son and daughter-in-law went to live in the aldar's homestead and live there until today.
And you live in good health until their return!
A fox and a fox cub
A fox and a fox cub were lying on the top of Mount Kariw and watching the weeds burning in the Murtazati lowland. The fox pretends to warm herself, and the fox cub asked her:
– “What are you doing?”
– “A weed is burning in the Murtazati lowland, and I am warming myself from its fire.”
Suddenly, the fox cub lying next to her jumped up and fell on the back.
– “What's wrong with you?” – asked the frightened fox. He replied:
– “From this fire fell on me a spark!”
The fox only said:
– “It is not without reason that people say: The fox cub is more deceitful than the fox himself.”
A marvelous belt
When dying, a poor man bequeathed to his son:
– “I leave you no palaces, silver or gold. But if ever you are in need, go to my friend, the wise man. He has saved me out of trouble more than once and more than twice, and he will not refuse to help you.”
The son buried his father as he should: neither richly nor poorly, but he began to live in his grandfather's old tower. Everything in the house ran out, and in the end the young man became so weak that he could not put his hands to his mouth.
So the young man went to his father's friend, a wise man.
The old man was overjoyed.
– “I didn't think that my friend had such a son, such a good boy”, – said the wise man. “I will not let you leave my tower for a whole year. There is no danger to your tower: no one but the beasts will look into it.”
The year passed quickly. The wise man brought a horse, gave the young man a circle of barley churek1 and a circle of goat's cheese. Then he gave him a belt made of leopard skin and said:
– “While you were living in my tower, such thick forests have grown around that you can't get through – you won't find the way. Here's a belt for you. If you gird yourself, you'll find your way through the black forest. When you leave the forest for the plain, you will see a copper tower and next to it an iron guest room. You will stay in the guest room. The mistress of the tower, a beautiful girl, will come out to you. Many young men have come to her, to ask her for marriage, but none have ever returned. When she goes out to a guest, she does not speak to him. But if the guest makes her speak three times, if he has so much intelligence, she will marry him, and he will have all her treasures and the tower. When she comes out, you put your belt on the finga (round table) and say: “It seems that my mistress is dumb, there is nothing to talk to her about. Tell me, my leopard belt, what is going on in the world”. The belt will tell you three times and each time will ask you questions, and you give deliberately wrong answers. If the girl speaks to you, you are lucky; if she does not, she will chop off your head and put it on the fence of the tower.”
The young man put on his belt, thanked the wise man, got on his horse and rode away.
I do not know whether he rode long or short, but he got to the plain. A copper tower appeared, and next to it an iron guest tower.
The young man dismounted, tied his horse to a ring in the tower wall, entered the guest room, sat down and waited. In the evening a beautiful girl appeared in the guest room. She was so beautiful that one could not take one's eyes off her.
The young man greeted her, but the girl did not answer a word. Then the young man put his belt on his finga and said:
– “It seems my mistress is dumb, there's nothing to talk to her about. Tell me what is going on in the world.”
The belt answered in a human voice:
– “What can I tell! I am on you by day and under your head at night.”
– “Tell us something. The girl raised her eyebrows and prepared to listen.”
Belt began:
– “The three brothers had one bull, there was nothing else in their poor hadzaræ (Ossetian home). They took great care of this bull. One brother guarded the bull and sat at its tail, another at its belly and the third at its head. The brother who sat at the tail saw that for three days and three nights there was no dung near the bull. He was afraid whether the bull was sick and ran to tell the other brother, who was at the belly.” From morning till late in the evening he ran and when he reached the brother he said:
“Our bull has not given manure at all for three days and three nights; isn’t it sick?”
The second brother said:
– “For three days and three nights now it's been dry, quite dry. Let us go to our brother and consult him.”
The two brothers ran to the third brother the next day, and in the evening, when the sun was descending behind the mountains, they reached him.
“Our bull has not given manure for three days and three nights, nor wet the ground. May it not be sick!”
“But he has stopped eating, too”, – said the third brother. “He must be thirsty. Let's go and get him drunk.”
The three brothers took their bull to the big river. The bull drained the river in one gulp, and all the inhabitants of the river were left at the bottom.
A fish jumped up from the bottom and swallowed the bull at once. Suddenly, a grype flew down from the mountains, clawed at the fish and lifted it into the sky. The grype carried the fish to the mountain, and the mountain was scattered with ashes. Then the grype put it on a centuries-old oak tree, but the oak broke like a twig. And the grype does not let the fish out of his claws. Flying with it, looking in all directions.
A goat lay on the shore near the shepherd, its horns were intertwined. The grype descended on its horns and ate the fish. When the grype reached the bull and began to eat it, the bull's blade bounced off and hit the shepherd in the eye.
In the evening the shepherd brought the herd to the village, went into the house and said to his three sisters:
“Something got in my eye today. Come here and look for it.”
One of the sisters rolled up her sleeve and stuck her hand up to her elbow in her brother's eye. She searched and searched, but found nothing. The second sister went into her brother's eye, but found nothing and came back out with nothing. The third sister went into her brother's eye, swam back and forth and brought out a spatula. The bone was thrown into the garbage and the garbage was taken outside the village.
The bone lay there for a long time and became overgrown with turf.
One day the carriage drivers with a train of twelve wagons camped on the overgrown bone for the night. At midnight a fox crept up to the village hoping for prey. It smelled a piece of meat left on the bone, grabbed it and began to twist the bone together with the wagon.
There was a good hunter among the carriage drivers. He killed the fox. Twelve men began to skin it. They skinned half of it, began to turn the fox on the other side, but there was not enough strength. They left their vain work, cut off half of the skin and with that half all twelve dressed themselves from head to toe.
On the morrow the girl went to the river for water, stumbled and said:
“What is this?”
She saw that it was a killed fox, bent down and peeled off the remaining half of the skin. She brought the skin home and began to cut a hat for her one-year-old brother, but she didn't have enough for a hat…
– “That's my story for you”, – said the marvelous belt. “Now answer me: who was the biggest?”
– “The grype, who else!” – said the young man. Then the girl smiled and said:
– “You look like a clever man, but your answer is wrong. The most amazing thing in the story is the one-year-old child who has such a big head.”
So the girl spoke for the first time. The girl left, and the poor man's son went to bed. The next day in the evening the girl again went down to the guest room, sat down in a chair and did not speak a word.
The young man took off his belt again, laid it on his finga and said:
– “It seems that my mistress is mute, there is nothing to talk to her about. Tell me what is going on in the world.”
– “What can I tell! By day I am on you, and by night I am under your headboard”, – answered the belt.
– “Amuse us a little, let's pass the time”, – the young man asked.
And the belt began to tell a story:
– “Three brothers had a flock of sheep and goats. The brothers took turns guarding their flock. One day the eldest brother whistled and drove the flock to the edge of the black forest, where he began to graze the cattle in the tall grass, standing under a big tree, while the sheep and goats grazed around him.”
To pass the time, the shepherd began to carve a girl on the trunk. He carved all day long and finished his work only in the evening.
The next morning the middle brother drove the flock to the same place. The middle brother saw the girl carved by his older brother and said:
“There is no prettier girl in the world. It would be good to decorate her.”
So he began to decorate the girl. He gathered for her the most beautiful, the most fragrant flowers.
When evening came, he drove the herd home.
On the third day, his younger brother went with the herd. And he drove his flock to the same place, to the edge of the forest.
When the younger brother saw the image of a girl, he stopped like a stumbling block.
The younger brother thought, “This is the one I have dreamed of all my life.” He rushed to the tree, but it was not the girl, only her image.
Then the young man prayed:
“O God, revive her!”
Just as he said this, the image turned into a living girl.
The younger brother brought the beautiful girl to the house, and then the brothers began to argue about whom she should marry…
– “Who should she marry?” – asked the marvelous belt.
– “To the elder brother, of course”, – answered the young man. “If it weren't for him, the girl wouldn't exist at all.”
– “That's not true”, – said the mistress of the tower. “A girl should only marry her younger brother, who brought her back to life. There is nothing better than life on earth.”
So the girl spoke for the second time.
On the third day the girl came again to the iron guest room. Silently she sat down in a chair not far from the guest.
The young man took off his belt again, put it on his finga and said:
– “Tell us another tale to pass the time. It seems that our hostess is mute”, – she does not speak a word.
– “What can I tell! I'm on you by day and under your head at night. But if our mistress is mute, I'll tell you, but listen well!”
– “I will listen, I will not miss a word”, – the young man replied.
– “An aldar (nobleman, lord) of a country had such a beautiful daughter that the month and the stars saw themselves in her as in a mirror. The aldar and his wife did not let their daughter go a step away from them: they lived, drank and ate only for her. And now seven wangs (giants), seven rapist brothers, carried away the beloved daughter of the aldar and his wife.
Your enemy should grieve as your father and mother grieved!
In the village of an aldar lived a witch. She had three sons. What they could do, no one else in the world could do.
The aldar and his wife were overcome with grief and sent their servants to the witch's sons, the three brothers, and told them to say:
“Though you are unequal, yet we will give our daughter in marriage to one of you, if you will free her from the Wangs.”
“We shall free your daughter.” The brothers agreed and went to the Wangs.
The brothers drove away from the village, looked at each other and said:
“We gave our word to the aldar that we would free his daughter. What will each one do?”
“I will carry the aldar's daughter away from the Wangs in such a way that they will not even know about it”, – said the eldest brother.
The middle one said:
“If the daughter of the aldar falls into my hands, not only the Wangs, even the wind and that will not catch up with me.”
“When the Wangs rush in pursuit, I will exterminate them all”, – said the younger.
The brothers rode on. When they approached the house of the Wangs, the elder brother went to the Wangs, while the middle and younger brother waited for him.
The elder took the daughter of the aldar out of the Wangs’ house unnoticed. The middle brother took her and rushed like a storm to the aldar's castle.
The third brother stopped, waiting for the chase, and destroyed the Wangs – none of them returned home again.
When the witch's three sons – three brothers – returned home, they began to argue about whom the aldar should give his daughter away to....
– “To whom? Tell me yourself”, – the marvelous belt asked the young man.
– “To whom? To the one who took her out of the house of the Wangs”, – he answered.
The mistress laughed:
– Young man, it is true that your mind is not so good as your looks. The aldar must marry off his daughter to a younger man. It is no great feat to carry her away from the house of the Wangs: they could carry her away a second time. But if the kidnappers are killed, the girl will be safe.
The aldar must marry his daughter to the youngest son of the witch.
So she spoke for the third time.
– “You have defeated me, good young man! Now I'm yours forever.”
The young man and the beauty had a rich feast in the copper tower and lived happily ever after.
Hero-knight Dombay
There was once a strongman named Dombay in Ossetia. His strength was exorbitant. As they said, there was no one stronger than him. One day a giant buffalo died near the village where Dombay lived. It was summer time, and the corpse of the buffalo began to decompose. The stench could be felt several miles away. The poor people did not know what to do and in despair appealed to Dombay to somehow get rid of such a misfortune. Dombay went to the corpse of the buffalo, took it by the tail and threw it with such force that nobody even saw where it fell.
This elevated Dombay even more in the eyes of the people. Everyone talked about him everywhere: men on nihas2, children when playing alchiks3. But Dombay's wife, a capricious and proud woman, spoke about Dombay's strength more than anyone else.
Once she sat with her companions and praised her husband as usual.
– “May you be carried away with your husband”, – suddenly interrupted Dombay's wife by a witch, who was fed up with her boasting. “There are many stronger men in the world than your husband.”
Dombay's wife took offense at this and immediately went to complain to her husband. Dombay listened to her and said:
– “I will not rest until I find someone who is stronger than me. Now I will go to look for my opponent.”
Having said this, Dombay immediately set out, bade farewell to his friends and went on his way.
It is not known how long or short he walked like that. But one day he saw a giant. The giant was catching a fish, which was as big as a tree. When Dombay saw this giant, his spirit froze in him. “So much for that”, he thought, “and I was still going to look for a rival; after all, this mountain can destroy me with just one spirit!” and he wanted to escape unnoticed. But the giant had already noticed him and shouted:
– “Hey, mountain bird, where is God bringing you from?”
– “I am coming to look for a rival”, – said Dombay, approaching him, “to measure my strength.”
– “Hear me, little bird,” laughed the giant, “I would gladly compete with you, but I cannot do it without the permission of my elder brothers. Go therefore up the river and tell my brothers about your deed.”
Dombay went, cursing both his wife and the witch, by whose mercy he had fallen into such trouble. Soon a giant did appear. Only this one was twice as tall as the first.
– “Where are you coming from, mountain bird?” – this one, too, shouted when he saw our Dombay.
Dombay told him.
– “Well, go to your elder brother, may him let you. Dombay went to his older brother. He was twice as tall as the average. Dombay explained to him the purpose of his visit.”
– “Hey, aye, little bird”, – laughed the giant. “We are afraid to fight with you. Go ask our mother, as she advises.”
Poor Dombay sighed and went to the giants' mother. Soon he saw among the steppe a woman twice as tall as the elder giant. The woman was sitting and sewing. One of her fangs touched the sky, the other went under the ground, one breast lay on the ground in front, the other was thrown back. When Dombay saw her, he quite got cold feet. “Well”, he thought, “prepare for death, dear Dombay! These giants have just left me for dinner. I must resort to stratagem, or there is nothing to be done – there is no escape!”
And so Dombay slowly crept up to the breast of the giantess, which was thrown back, grabbed it and began to suckle. The mother of the giants looked back, and he cried out:
– “Oh, mother, save me!”
– “Well, my son, you're lucky you did it, or you'd be dead! Tell us now how you came to our land.”
Dombay confessed everything sincerely.
– “You're a fool, I see”, – the giantess said, grinning. “You can't look for opponents with your strength. You know, my son, my sons were saving you for dinner: we make kebabs out of human meat. You would've gotten the spit, but you were smarter than us. There's nothing to be done, now I'll save you.”
Having said that, the giantess covered Dombay with her thimble. In the evening the giant brothers came.
– “Well”, – said the elder son to the giantess, “Where is that mountain bird we sent to you? Give him here, we'll make ourselves a kebab.”
– “Leave him for breakfast”, – said the giantess. “There will be enough fish for dinner. I have put him under a thimble, so he will not run away.”
The brothers agreed and, having eaten fish, lay down. When they fell asleep, the giantess let Dombay out from under the thimble.
– “Well, my son”, – she said to Dombay. “Run as far as your strength will allow you, and try to be away by morning. If you fall into the hands of my sons again, I shall hardly be able to save you.”
Dombay thanked the giantess and started running.
All night long Dombay was running. Once in a while he stopped and listened to see if there was any pursuit. But there was no chase. Only in the morning, when the sun appeared in the east, Dombay heard a chase. Despite all Dombay's efforts, the giants were getting closer by the minute. Despair seized Dombay.
Suddenly, he saw an old giant man climbing up the mountain, dragging twenty arbors of salt behind him with one hand. Dombay strained his last strength and soon caught up with the old giant.
– “Oh, father, save me!” – cried Dombay.
The giant felt sorry for Dombay. He picked him up and put him in the hollow of his ruined tooth. In the meantime, the giant brothers came running and began to demand Dombay's extradition. The old man paid no attention to them for a long time, but when they began to annoy him, he pulled a hair out of his head and bandaged the three brothers. Then he pulled out Dombay's tooth and began to ask him how he got here. Dombay told him everything. The old man laughed.
– “Go home, my son. Now you have seen who is the strongest.”
Dombay thanked the old giant for his rescue and headed for his homeland. On the way he began to think: “This old man who saved me”, he thought, “is the strongest on earth if he tied three giants with one hair. But I noticed that he is one-eyed. The other eye must have been lost in the fight. So whoever knocked his eye out is stronger than he is. I'll go and ask where the old man lost his eye.”
– “Oh, for that God would punish you!” – answered the old man. “You have made my old wounds worse. But there is nothing to be done, sit down, and I will tell you how I lost my eye: “There were twelve of us brothers. We were young: our blood boiled, and so all twelve of us decided to seek, as you do, with whom we could compete in strength. We prepared our war horses for this purpose so that they ate only nails instead of grain, and set out on the road. The night caught us, and we stopped at a cave to spend the night. In the morning, when we awoke, we saw, to our greatest surprise, that we were not in a cave, but in a human skull. We saddled our horses and wanted to ride out of the skull, but at that time some huge black dog came running, grabbed the skull in its teeth and ran. Near some choirs it threw the skull on the ground and started to eat it. At that time, a girl-giantess came out of the choir and, seeing the bone, cried out:
– “This damned dog is simply annoying, picking up bones wherever he can and dragging them here!”
With these words she went up to the skull and kicked it. What happened next, I don't remember. When I woke up, I saw that the skull was broken and all my brothers were dead. I was the only survivor. That's when my eye disappeared.”
– “Well, go now”, – the giant finished. “And be content that you are the strongest in your land. And there are many stronger men in the world.”
Dombay went home then and has not boasted of his strength ever since.
The pig farmer's son
Once upon a time there was a poor man and his wife. They had an only child, a boy. One day they decided to pick flowers and went to the forest, taking the child with them. While they were picking flowers, they left the child on a goatskin under a tree that was illuminated by the sun. They thought they could easily find him later.
They wandered through the forest as long as they wanted, picked flowers to their heart's content, and then they remembered about their child left under a tree that was illuminated by the sun, they began to look for that tree, – but is there only one tree illuminated by the sun? They wandered and wandered through the forest, and they did not find their child.
In the meantime, a giant went hunting and noticed a crying child under a tree on a goat skin. The giant examined the child and when he saw that it was a boy, he rejoiced.
– “My wife had no son”, – he said. “Now I have found a boy for her!”
He brought him home and said to his wife:
– “You wanted a son, so I found a boy for you!”
– “All right”, – said the wife and began to take care of the child.
The giant hunted, killed deer and fed his son with deer marrow. As the days passed, the boy grew up. When the giant went hunting, he was bored.
One day the giant's wife asked him:
– “Why are you bored, boy?”
– “How can I not be bored?” – he replied. “He goes away and leaves me at home. I wish he would take me out for fun for once.”
The giant returned from another hunt, and in the morning his wife said to him:
– “You're going hunting again, take the boy with you for once. Without you he is dying of boredom here.”
– “All right”, – replied the giant. “If he wants to, I'll take him with me.”
So he took the boy with him on the hunt. On the way he asked him:
– “Do you see something white over there? That's the river. Look over there!”
The giant plucked a young tree and threw it, the tree did not reach the near bank of the river.
– “Can I throw it too?” – asked the boy to the giant.
– “Try and see”, – said the giant.
The boy plucked a young tree and threw it; the tree fell into the waters of the river.
The giant was amazed:
– “Praise be to you, God”, – he said to himself. “What a marvel!”
He plucked out a young tree again and threw it. The tree fell into the waters of the river. The boy also plucked the tree again, threw it, and the tree flew across the river to the other side.
– “May God send you a long life”, – said the giant. “You have good qualities!”
They hunted until evening and returned home in the evening.
– “I have never seen such a marvel!” – said the giant to his wife.
And he told her how the boy had thrown the tree and it had flown to the other side of the river. The wife replied to the giant:
– “All right, all right, but other people's dung doesn't stick to your body.”
The giant went hunting every day, but he never took the boy with him, he left him in the care of his wife. One day she made it clear to the boy that he was not their son. The boy became sad, spent time thinking about his parents and one day asked the giant's wife:
– “Who were my mother and father?”
When the giant returned home, the wife said to him:
– “The boy longs for his parents and asks me about them. What shall we do with him?”
The giant said:
– “There is a remedy for that: let him take this goat skin and go around the villages showing it and saying that he buys such skins. In this way he will find his parents.”
The boy pinned the goat skin to his stick and began to go around the villages. But nowhere did he find his parents. Finally, on the outskirts of a poor village he saw a house in the distance; he went up to it and called for someone to come out. A woman came out to him. He showed her a goat skin so that she could get a good look at it and asked if they had any for sale.
When the woman looked at the goat skin, a hunch arose in her and she wept.
The boy asked her:
– “What is the matter with you, good woman, why are you crying?”
– “How can I not cry?” – she replied. “On the same goatskin I laid my boy in the forest under a tree, and he disappeared. I remember now and cry.”
The boy realized that he had found his mother, but he did not open anything yet, only said to the old woman:
– “Let's go inside!”
They went in. The house was poor and there was no food. But when the boy went to find his parents, the giant gave him a felt whip. The whip could do anything he asked it to do. The boy struck the whip and said.
– “Let there be a big table in this house, filled with all kinds of food!”
And such a table appeared in the house, and they satisfied their hunger and ate as much as they wanted. Then the boy asked the old woman: “Don't you have a husband? Where is he?”
She replied:
– “It is our turn to herd the aldar's pigs, and he is herding them. He's a poor man.”
– “Where does he herd them?” – asked the boy.
– “He will come back in due time”, – she replied.
– “It's all right, I'll check on him”, – said the boy. “He is hungry, I will feed him something.”
He went to the old man, found him and sent him home, and stayed to herd the pigs instead. The old man instructed him:
– “The pigs will not pass over the bridge until you kiss each of them.”
In the evening he drove the pigs into the village, and before the bridge they got restless, expecting him to kiss each of them. But he beat their sides with a thick stick with a pommel and killed some of them on the spot, while others escaped from him.
The village of the aldar was surrounded by a fence. There were four gates in the fence. This was because there was a vulture in the forest that would attack the aldar village and kidnap a boy or a girl into captivity. So the aldar kept the gates locked; they were guarded by gatekeepers.
It was the turn of the son of the swineherd to guard the gate. He spent the night guarding the gate, and in the morning he broke the bolts of the gate with his hand and went home. The people could not get the bolts out and sent for him themselves. He came, pulled the bolts and opened the gate; no one else was able to open it.
When this news reached the aldar, he gave his word that he would give his daughter to the one who would kill the wolf, and with his daughter he promised to give him half of his fortune.
The son of the swineherd asked the aldar:
– “Such a rumor has reached me. Will you really do so?”
– “Yes, I shall”, – the aldar assured him. “I shall fulfill my word exactly.”
Then the son of the swineherd harnessed the oxen and set out for the forest. He loaded firewood on the oxen and was just on his way back when a vulture rushed at him.
The swineherd's son pulled out a young tree and hit the wolf in the neck with it. The wolf fell down on the spot. And the son of the swineherd cut down a large tree and tied it to the wolf without clearing it. The wolf woke up and rose to his feet; the son of the swineherd drove him ahead of the bulls and brought him to the aldar village. When the people saw the vulture from afar, they rushed in different directions shouting:
– “Here comes a bull with a whole tree that has not been cleared of branches!”
The son of the swineherd chased after them, stopped them, and said:
– “Where are you running to? Don't be afraid! He is no longer dangerous!” The aldar kept his word. He married his daughter to the pig farmer's son. He offered him half of his fortune, but he refused, saying that he had a sufficient fortune himself.
By morning, the pig farmer's son had houses for himself, which made the aldar's houses seem like nothing. He had a wedding, great feasts, and is still living.
As we have seen none of this, let no misfortune or sickness befall us.
Poor Cupara and the fox
Once upon a time there was a poor man. His name was Cupara. He had only seven chickens.
One day a fox came to him and said:
– “Come on, Cupara, let's live together!”
– “No, you'll eat my chickens!”
– “Don't be afraid”, – said the fox.
So they began to live together. They lived together for several years, and finally the fox said:
– “Well, Cupara, now I must ask you for a bride.”
– “No need, what do I need a wife for?” – said Cupara.
– “No, let's organize your marriage after all!”
– “All right”, – said Cupara. “But I have nothing. Where can you get the money to give me a bride?”
– “Don't worry, I shall find it, said the fox.” She went to the aldar and said to him:
– “Hey, aldar! Your daughter is being betrothed, don't miss, don't think of not giving her away. The groom is a smart and rich guy.”
– “All right” – said the aldar. “Let's make a deal. The tribute shall be one hundred pieces from each breed of beasts.”
– “All right”, – said the fox. “We'll find him.” She came to the forest and shouted:
– “Beasts of all kinds, where are you? There is a war coming, everybody follow me, I know another hole, let's go there!”
She gathered the animals in the stable to the aldar and shouted:
– “Hey, aldar! There is plenty of kalym4 in your stable, there is not even enough room.”
The aldar came out and said:
– “Go and send your son-in-law to me on Sunday, I want to get acquainted with him.”
The fox returned home and said to Cupara:
– “The aldar is calling you, we must go.”
She painted his rags with colors and they went to the aldar. The aldar was waiting for his son-in-law at the edge of the village and saw from afar that his clothes were shining.
When the fox and Cupara were walking on the bridge, the fox pushed Cupara into the water and the rags he was wearing were carried away by the water.
– “Hey, aldar!”, – shouted the fox. “Your son-in-law's clothes have been carried away by the river! Send something for him to wear.”
The aldar sent some good clothes, Cupara was dressed and brought to his father-in-law's house.
Cupara entered his father-in-law's house and examined himself, not believing his eyes.
– “Why is he examining himself?” – asked the aldar.
And the fox told him:
– “His own clothes were better, that's why he is looking at himself like that.”
The aldar ordered Cupara to bring out the best clothes he had. And the fox said to Cupara:
– “Don't look at yourself.” And Cupara stood still outside the door.
The next Sunday they went to get a bride. On the way back, the fox overtook everyone. He ran and saw seven Wayugs5.
– “There are troops chasing me”, – she said. “Let me hide under the straw.”
– “We'll hide under the straw ourselves.”
– “All right, climb up yourself, and the warmer you get, the farther you climb!”
The Wayugs climbed into the straw and the fox set fire to it. They climbed farther and farther, and they burned.
The mother of the Wayugs was preparing food for their return. The fox chased her away and brought the bride and groom and the guests to the house of the Wayugs. She treated them to the food of the Wayugs and they had a wonderful chindzahsav6.
Cupara and his wife began to live in the house of the Wayugs without worries. How long they lived like that, only God knows, and one day the fox said to them:
– “Well, now marry a bride for me too!” Cupara answered her:
– “With what means to marry you? We have nothing.”
– “If you don't want to marry me”, – said the fox. “I will tell Wayug to take away your house.”
So she went to the Wayug and said to him:
– “There is a bad man in your house, send him away and live in it yourself!”
The Wayug did not believe the fox. Then she said to him:
– “Put a rope around my neck, and if I deceive you, kill me.”
The Wayug put a rope around the fox's neck, and they came to Cupara.
And when Cupara saw them, he shouted at the Wayug:
“You evil one, I told you to bring a male and not a female! The Wayug was frightened, hit the fox on the ground, and ran away in fear.”
Cupara and his wife stayed in the Wayug’s house and live there until today.
A fox and a fox cub (second story)
A fox fed her fox cub. When he was old enough to fend for himself, his mother said to him:
– “Listen, now you can feed yourself, have a good journey!”
The fox cub wept and asked his mother:
– “Where will we meet now?”
– “Eh, my sunshine”, – his mother answered him. “If we are destined to meet again, then only on the wall of the Jewish merchant!”
The herdsman Koy, son of the aldar
There was an aldar in the village. When he grew old, he called his son Koy to him and gave him an order:
– “I have grown old and will soon die. I order you to keep the property that you will inherit.”
The aldar died, and Koy began to spend his fortune. He added nothing to it, but squandered it all. When there was nothing left in the house except his father's horse and his military armor, Koy went to the herdsmen of the village.
Another aldar appeared in the village. He had a son and a daughter. The aldar's son married the sister of the seven Wayugs.
On the day of the wedding the kindzhons7 gathered. The daughter of the aldar saw that Koy, the herdsman of the village, was not among them and refused to participate in the wedding. And the girl was a prophetic one. They came to her and asked her why she refused to take part in the wedding:
– “I cannot be at the wedding”, – she said. Unless our herdsman Koy is there.
The aldar found her words hurtful.
– “Shall I gather herdsmen for the wedding of my only son?” – he said.
The daughter insisted after all:
– “I will not take a step unless Koy is invited!” After a long conversation the aldar agreed to invite Koy.
They sent for him to say that the aldar was inviting him to his son's wedding as a kindzhon.
– “I am a herdsman”, – replied Koy. “I have no time.” Passed on his reply to the aldar's daughter:
– “He has no time. He cannot leave the herd.”
– “If he does not want to be a kindzhon”, – said the daughter of the aldar. “Then I do not want to participate in the wedding and will not go for the bride!”
Then the aldar himself went to invite Koy. He came to him and said:
– “Prepare yourself, you must surely be a kindzhon!”
Koy agreed and said:
– “All right, I will be the kindzhon at the wedding.”
The Kindzhon had already departed, but Koy was still grazing his cattle. When on the third morning he had sent his cattle out to graze, the aldar came to him again:
– “Why did you not keep your word? Drive your cattle home at once and go to catch up with the Kindzhons!”
Koy returned home with the aldar and told him:
– “Saddle my horse, and in the meantime I will change my clothes!”
The aldar went into the house and put up his saddle, but he could not do so; he went back out and said to the young herdsman:
– “I have no time, I am going home, and you yourself saddle your horse and catch up with your companions!”
The young herdsman changed his clothes, saddled his horse and rode out. At the edge of the village he hit his horse with a whip, made him hot, and he ran fast as he could. He noticed some silhouette in the steppe, directed his horse there, rode up and saw: the dragon surrounded the aldar's kindzhons with its tail in its mouth and would not let them out.
Seeing this, Koy took out his saber and chopped the dragon into small pieces. The Kindzhons were glad that he had saved them from the dragon.
Off they went on their way freely. They rode for a long time and at dusk they suddenly heard shouts: someone was beating away from the road. Koy stopped his horse, suggested to the Kindzhons to go on their way, and stayed behind to find out whose cry it was, who was fighting with whom.
He turned his horse away from the road and headed toward where the shouts were coming from. He approached the place and heard a man shouting:
– “Oh, if my unfamiliar ardhward8 Koy had been here, we would have massacred you!”
When Koy approached the place, he found his unfamiliar ardhward murdered. The assassin stood by his body. Koy struck him with his saber. The assassin turned into a lump of blood and rolled away into the steppe spaces. Koy pursued him for some time, but did not catch him. He went to the murdered man, buried him, tied his horse to his grave, and then rode after his companions and caught up with them at the house of the seven Wayugs.
When Koy entered the courtyard, all the seven Wayugs came out to meet him and led him into a special room; they were very pleased with him.
After quite some time a certain Black Rider appeared. He was taken into the same room in which Koy was. The Black Rider was wooing the sister of the seven giants for his younger brother.
Once in the same room, Koy and Black Rider got into a bickering match. The Black Rider said:
– “You will not take the girl away from here!”
And Koy said:
– “Well, no, we're taking our bride away!”
Their bickering turned into a quarrel, and Koy said:
– “In that case, let us bring our horses together, and whose horse is killed, we will cut off his head.”
The Black Rider agreed. They went out into the courtyard and set their horses against each other. Koy's horse quickly tore out the liver of Black Rider's horse, and Koy cut off Black Rider's head.
Then came the Black Rider's brother, the White Rider. He dismounted in front of the gates of the seven Wayugs. The Wayugs took him into the room where Koy was sitting. The White Horseman also quarreled with him.
Koy offered him one too:
– “Let us leave off threats, and let our horses come to each other. If your horse overpowers mine, you will cut off my head, and if my horse overpowers yours, I will cut off your head.”
The White Rider agreed, and they brought their horses together. Koy's horse quickly tore out the liver of the White Rider's horse, and Koy cut off the White Rider's head.
After that, the youngest of the brothers, Red Rider, appeared. He rode into the courtyard of the seven Wayugs and dismounted. He was led by the seven Wayugs into the room where Koy was sitting.
He, too, got into an altercation, and Koy told him:
– “If you quarrel, I will send you on your brothers' way. There stand our steeds, let them be near each other, and whose horse will overpower, he shall cut off the other's head.”
The red rider also agreed to this condition. They let their horses near each other, and Koy's horse quickly tore the liver out of Red Rider's horse. Koy cut the head off the Red Rider's horse.
When the seven Wayugs and the Kindzhons saw this, they all rushed out into the courtyard and began to carry him in their arms enthusiastically. The Wayugs said:
– “If Koy had not been with us today, ruin awaited us and the kindzhons.”
And then all of them were convinced that the aldar's daughter was a believer and that it was not in vain that she had demanded Koy's invitation.
After this the kindzhons partook of viands and drink, and sat at table for a whole week; then they took their bride with them and went on their way.
When Koy reached the place where his ardhward had been killed, he said to the kindzhons and his bride:
– “Well, now have a happy journey, and I will go in search of the beast I wounded.”
And he went on his way along the path where the lump of blood had rolled.
As he rode along, he came to a gorge. He saw that one side of the gorge was covered with grass up to his waist, and the other side was as if shaved with a razor. He reached a herdsman and asked him:
– “Why do you graze your cattle on this side, starving them? Why don't you graze cattle where there is grass?”
The herdsman answered him:
– “This is the land of the wolf, I cannot graze there.”
– “Whose herdsman are you then?” – Koy asked.
– “I am the aldar’s herdsman”, – replied the herdsman.
Koy plucked one bristle from his horse, let him go free and came to the village. He went through the streets, shouting so that he could be heard:
– “Who needs a batrak9?”
The daughter of an aldar heard this shout, went to her father and said to him:
– “There is a young man offering himself as a batrak.”
The aldar ordered to call him. They brought him to the aldar and asked him what he was looking for.
– “I am looking for a job as a laborer”, – he answered.
– “We need a batrak”, – said the aldar. “But what will be the payment, how much do you demand?”
Koy thought a little and answered:
– “The payment I demand is this: every morning and every evening let me drink arak10 three times and dance with your three daughters three times.”
The payment seemed cheap to the aldar and he took him as a batrak.
In the morning Koy drank arak three times, danced with the aldar's three daughters and drove the cattle to graze. He drove it to the other side of the river, to the land of the boar. He grazed it there, and suddenly the vulture appeared with a vicious snort and a shout:
– “What dog, what donkey dares to bring cattle to graze on my land? Birds dare not even fly over my head, nor ants crawl under me!”
Koy did not even move from his seat. The lynx came up to him and asked him:
– “Why have you driven cattle onto my land?”
– “I am the aldar's new batrak”, – said Koy. “And I did not know whose land it was.”
– “In that case I forgive you as a guest”, – said the vulture. “But don't bring your cattle here again!”
So the vulture went back to his place, and Koy brought his cattle, which could hardly move for satiety, into the courtyard of the aldar. The aldar went out into the yard, saw his cattle satiated and was surprised, but he dared not ask Koy anything. And Koy went into the house, drank three glasses of arak and danced three times with the aldar's three daughters.
The next morning it was the same: he drank three glasses of arak, danced three times with the three daughters of the aldar and drove the aldar's cattle to graze.
The aldar sent another batrak after him:
– “Go and find out where he grazes his cattle.”
Toth followed Koy and saw him herding cattle on the land of the boar. He hid behind a rock to see what would happen next. Here comes the vulture and cries out:
– “Who dares to herd cattle on my land, when birds are afraid to fly over my head and ants to crawl under me?”
So he and Koy fought. They fought till evening. Neither of them overcame the other, and from exhaustion they fell in different directions.
The vulture spoke:
– “Oh, if I could now drink from the spring that gushes from under the rock, I would break you in two!”
– “And if the aldar's youngest daughter with her own hand had given me a drink of arak once”, – said Koy. “I would have chopped you into small pieces at once!”
The batrak, whom the aldar sent after Koy, heard these words, returned to the aldar's house and told him everything he had seen and heard.
Koy drove his cattle to the aldar's yard, drank his arak three times, danced three times with the aldar's three daughters and went to bed. In the morning he got up and again, as usual, drank his arak three times, danced with three daughters of the aldar and drove again the aldar's cattle to graze.
Aldar sent his youngest daughter and a batrak after him. He gave arak to the daughter and told her to bring it to Koy as soon as he said: "Oh, if the youngest daughter of the aldar had given me her own hand to drink arak!".
Koy drove his cattle again to the land of the boar. Meanwhile the aldar's daughter and his batrak crept close to Koy and lurked behind a rock.
After a while the enraged vulture appeared again:
– “What is this, whose dog, whose donkey, does not let me live?”
Again they grappled and fought till evening, and the vulture spoke again:
– “Oh, if I had a drink of water from that spring that gushes from under the rock, I would cut you in two!”
And Koy answered:
– “Oh, if the aldar's daughter had given me a drink of arak with her own hand, I would have chopped you into small pieces at once!”
When the aldar's daughter heard these words, she jumped up, flew up to Koy and gave him, as he wanted, to drink arak with her own hand. Koy became brave, jumped up, fought with the boar again and chopped it into small pieces with his saber.
When the aldar's daughter and the farmhand saw this, they embraced him in delight, then drove their cattle home and drove them into the aldar's yard. The daughter told her father how the deed was done and how Koy had chopped up the boar.
When the aldar realized what power Koy possessed, he became afraid. He thought long and hard and decided:
– “He will take the aldardom away from me anyway; I would rather give it to him in kind.”
He called Koy to him and told him:
– “From today I cede my aldardom to you, I give you the one of my daughters whom you like; live here and do everything you wish!”
Koy answered him:
– “I have not come here for your possessions, nor for marriage with one of your daughters. Here is the land for you and from today you may safely graze your cattle, and I will go on my way.”
He said goodbye to the aldar and went on his way. When he came out of the village, he took out a horse bristle from his gazir11, which he kept there, set it on fire, and immediately his horse appeared before him. He got on his horse and headed deep into the gorge. God knows how long he rode, and he came to a place where there was such a stench that it was impossible to go further into the gorge. This stench, from which neither he nor his horse could breathe, came from the seven-headed Wayug, who sat in a cave under the Black Rock. Because of this stench no one would venture near him.
Koy looked around and saw a horse in saddle and bridle. He approached the horse and the horse asked him:
– “Where are you going?”
Koy answered him:
– “The tracks of the beast I hit lead here, and I am following them.”
Then the horse told him:
– “He is sitting in the great cave of the Black Rock, but your horse will not be able to get to him, so get off him and get on me, tighten my girths, give me such blows with your whip that pieces of skin sprang from my thighs and blisters sprang up on your palms, and when I reach the Black Rock, try to get off me as soon as you can!”
Koy did so. He got on his horse, struck him, and in an instant they were under the Black Rock. Koy jumped off the horse, and he returned to his seat.
Koy went into the great cave of the Black Rock, and there sat a great seven-headed Wayug.
– “Hello, stinking donkey”, – Koy addressed him.
– “Hello, mountain bird!”, – answered him.
They grappled and began to wrestle. The Wayug had a cellar in the middle of the hadzara12 in which they were wrestling, covered by a large stone slab. When Wayug realized that he could not overpower Koy, he pushed him towards this cellar, quietly pushed the slab aside with his foot, and Koy fell into the pit, while Wayug covered him with the stone slab.
The wife of Koy's unknown ardhward was a veed, and she recognized that her husband's ardhward was in the giant's cellar. She let her husband know of this, and he rode out to pluck Koy out of the hands of the Wayug. He quickly reached the place where the horse belonging to Koy's unknown friend was standing. Koy Ardhward got on this horse, mounted him, and they found themselves in front of the great cave of the Black Rock. Ardhward jumped off the horse and let him go, the horse quickly returned back to his seat.
Ardhward went into the cave and saw the seven-headed Wayug in the cave.
– “Hello, you stinking donkey!” – Ardhward addressed him.
Wayug replied:
– “Hello, mountain bird!”
They clashed; they fought and fought, and the seven-headed Wayug began to push him slowly towards the cellar too. When he pushed aside a stone slab from the cellar, Koy quickly jumped out of there. The two of them attacked the seven-headed Wayug and chopped him to pieces. After they calmed down, they questioned each other about everything and got to know each other. Then they left the cave and came to their horses, got on them and rode back together.
They rode for a while, then Koy had to turn right and his ardhward had to turn left. Koy said to his ardhward:
– “Well, goodbye! I have not been home for a long time, and I am going home, and you have a good journey!”
Ardhward begged him:
– “Let's go to my place and meet my family!”
And Ardhward's wife knew that Koy would refuse to come to them; she eavesdropped on them for some time, and then she turned into a black-brown fox and jumped out in front of them on the road. Koy, without waiting for his companion, began to shoot at her and pursue her. God knows how long he pursued her; she disappeared into the steppe under the crypt. While Koy was catching up with her, she changed back into a woman. Koy reached the crypt, and from there a beautiful woman looked out and greeted him:
– “Hello, guest!”
Koy was stunned and said:
– “Hello! But tell me, where did the black-brown fox go?”
She said in surprise:
– “What fox? We live here, and there was no fox here. You'd better come to us, guest, you'll find shelter here!”
Koy went under the crypt. There was a house there, with the month and the sun shining on its ceiling, and stars on the walls.
She treated him very well, gave him a chance to rest, and then suggested:
– “Come on, let's play!”
– “Come on!” – agreed Koy. The woman told him:
– “I will go away and hide, and if you find me, I will fulfill your every wish, and if you don't find me, I will slaughter you.”
Koy said:
– “Hide then!”
She went straight to heaven to the goldsmiths for the earrings she had ordered. But Koy was on her trail and followed her. As soon as she asked the goldsmith, “Are my earrings ready?” – he immediately entered the room and hid behind the door.
The goldsmiths replied:
– “One earring is ready, but the other is not yet. Do you like it?”
They showed her the earring.
She looked at it and put it down, and Koy grabbed the earring, ran away from there, came back and sat sadly in the woman's house. In the meantime, the woman appeared and asked him:
– “Have you found me or not?”
– “Where could I find you”, – answered Koy. “When you were not on this earth!”
– “Then I must slaughter you”, – rejoiced the woman.
– “Then do your deal and cut!” – said Koy to her. But the woman said to him:
– “This time I forgive you. I will hide again, and if you don't find me again, then I will stab you.”
She left and went down to the underworld to the Dalimons13, whom she had ordered for her clogs. While she was talking to the Dalimons about the fact that one shoe was ready and the other was not yet ready, Koy was there. He grabbed the finished shoe, returned to the woman's house and again sat sadly.
The woman appeared and asked him again:
– “Have you found me or not?” Koy answered quietly, barely intelligible:
– “Where could I have found you when you were nowhere to be found on this earth!”
The woman rejoiced and said:
– “In that case I must slaughter you!”
– “As you please, slaughter me!”
– “All right, I'll forgive you this time”, – said the woman. “I will hide for the third time, and if you do not find me again, then I will slaughter you.”
She left and hid in the cave where her husband and Koy had killed the seven-headed Wayug. While she was having fun with her husband, Koy crept up on them and stole the knife she was going to stab him with. He went back to the woman's house and sat sadly again.
The woman came back and asked him:
– “Have you found me or not?”
– “No!” – Koy answered her. “How could I have found you when you were not on this earth!”
The woman smiled and said:
– “Well, in that case it is impossible not to slaughter you already!”
Koy couldn't help but keep his word either. The woman brought out a table and said to him:
– “Lie down on the table, I'll slaughter you!”
Koy stretched out on the table. The woman looks for her knife and can't find it. Koy tells her:
– “Well, hurry up, how long are you going to torture me?”
– “I can't find my knife”, – replied the woman. Koy said:
– “Here's my knife for you, stab me with it!”
And he handed her the knife he had stolen when she was having fun with her husband in the cave of the Black Rock.
The woman was amazed, she made Koy get up from the table and asked:
– “How did this knife come to you?”
– “When you were amusing yourself with my unknown ardhward, I took it out of your pocket”, – answered Koy.
Then he took out her earring, showed it to her, and said:
– “Isn’t this the earring which thou hast ordered from the heavenly Kurdalagons?”
The woman confessed that it was the earring.
And he took out a shoe and said to her again:
– “Isn’t this the shoe which thou hast ordered from the Dalimon of the underworld?”
And the woman again confessed that this was the shoe, and that she had lost the wager. At this moment the unknown Koy’s ardhward, the woman's husband, came through the door. He was overjoyed, but pretended as if he knew nothing.
– I invited my ardhward to come, but he refused. What's he doing here?
So they enjoyed each other, drinking and eating. Then the ardhward told Koy:
– “Come with me, I will show you my herds!”
He took him to the steppe and divided all that he had – herds of cattle and small horned cattle, herds of horses – into two parts, and gave half of it to his ardhward Koy. Together with Koy they drove the herds of cattle and schools of horses, and when they reached the possessions of the aldar, for whom Koy was herdsman, the land on which he had killed a boar, they heard from the mill on the outskirts of the village a fierce female cry.
Koy could not resist, flew up to the mill and saw: the demon had put a woman on the spinning mill wheel, he stopped the wheel and threw the woman off. She turned out to be the youngest daughter of the aldar, the one who with her own hand had given him a drink of arak when he was fighting a boar in a deadly fight.
Koy and his ardhward took the girl with them, and came to the house of the aldar, who was exceedingly glad of them, and said to him:
– “We must proceed onward; therefore equip our bride as befits her.”
Koy slew the youngest daughter of the aldar, and they took her with them.
They went onward, driving their herds of cattle. They see a huge herd of cattle grazing in the steppe, and the shepherd is crying or singing.
– “What a marvel?” – said Koy and his friend. They approached the shepherd and asked him:
– “Brother, why are you crying and singing?”
– “How can I not cry?” – answered the shepherd. “I was a strong young man, and one day I went wandering. I met a seven-headed Wayug, fought with him and he killed me. God knows who buried me. God only knows how long I stayed in the grave, and then they dug me up and gave me a light blow with a felt whip. I revived and saw my horse and one man beside me. There was not half of my strength left, and the man took me with him. And now I spend my days as a shepherd. I weep that I no longer have my strength and that I cannot take revenge on him.”
When Koy heard the words of the shepherd, he realized that this was his unknown ardhward, whom the seven-headed Wayug had killed. He asked:
– “And you know no one?”
– “I had an unknowing ardhward, Koy”, – the man replied. “But I have not seen him yet, nor have I gotten to know him.”
Then Koy embraced him and said:
– “I am Koy, your ardhward.”
He introduced him also to the third ardhward. They asked Koy:
– “What shall we do now, as you say?”
– “I agree with whatever you wish” – he replied. Then they said:
– “In that case our wish is this: Let us drive all the flocks ahead of us.”
He agreed with them. They mixed their herd with the herds of their absentee ardhward, and drove all the cattle to the village where Koy lived. As they approached the village, they decided:
– ”Let us ask the aldar and find out what his mood is.” So they sent to tell him:
– “Koy with his ardhwards has brought a herd, can it settle on your land?”
The aldar in reply sent to say to them:
– “And do not come close to my land!”
They realized that the aldar did not want them to come and went to the Kurdalagons’14 in the sky; they ordered them to make iron sticks. When the sticks were ready, they were brought to Koy where he settled down with his ardhwards.
Koy launched one stick from his seat, and it cut down half of the aldar's tower. The daughter of the aldar realized what was the matter and said to her father:
– “Let them settle on your land, do not annoy them any more, otherwise it will be worse!”
But the aldar did not heed his daughter and did not allow Koy and his ardhwardes to settle on his land. Then Koy launched a second stick, and it razed to the ground what was left of the aldar's tower. When the aldar was convinced that Koy and his ardhwards would not leave him alone, he sent to them to say:
– “Drive your cattle to my land and move yourselves!”
Koy and his brothers brought a huge herd to the village. The aldar had nothing to do but to welcome them kindly. They settled there and married the aldar's daughter to their youngest ardhward.
Koy took the aldardom (possessions of the aldar) upon himself, especially as it had belonged to him before.
One day that ardhward of Koy, who had given him herds of all kinds of cattle, said to him:
– “It is time for me to go away, I must check on my home!”
Koy and his elder ardhward thanked each other, and the elder ardhward left for home.
Koy stayed with the younger ardhward, and they are still living well today.
May you have as much good as we have said.
The ram and the rabbit
Once upon a time there lived a ram. He was weary from the misfortunes and troubles of his life. His heart was weary, and he said to himself:
– “Which way should I go, how can I get rid of my miserable life? I will go to see the world, maybe I will be lucky, and I will find my happiness.”
So he said and set off on the road. Leaving his homeland, he went forward and forward. After a while he reached the fork of three roads and was doubtful which road to take. He began to look for someone to ask for advice. Suddenly a hare appeared near him. The ram was frightened and stared at him dumbfounded.
– “What happened to you, ram?” – asked the hare. “Why are you standing like a statue?”
– “I don't know where to go”, – said the sheep. “Tell me, which road should I take?”
And the hare answered him like this:
– “If you take the middle road, you'll get a knife. If you take the right road, you won't pluck a stalk before the wolf gets you. If you take the left road, you will fall into the hands of a farsaglag15. For the rest of your life he will shear you and pay the aldar his tax with your wool. If the wool is not enough to pay, he will pay with your carcass and add your skin to it.”
The ram thought for a long time, then he said to himself:
– “I should take the left road. I will die there and there anyway, but I will have enough wool for a long time.”
And the ram went further along the left road.
Snow leopard is looking for an opponent
Snow leopard asked everyone he met if there was anyone stronger than him and how to meet him. For a long time he searched for such a creature and did not find it. Finally, one of the men he met told him:
– “A man is stronger than you.”
– “Where do I find him?”
– “On the road.”
– “In that case I shall find him”, – said the snow leopard and went on.
He met a teenager.
– “Are you a man?” – he asked the teenager.
– “I am a future man, but not a man yet.”
– “And where can I find a man?”
– “Follow the road and you'll meet him.”
A leopard walks along the road, meets an old man and asked him: – Are you a man?
– “I used to be a man, but now I'm no longer a man.”
– “Where can I find a man?”
– “Go further along the road and you'll find him.”
The snow leopard goes and goes further along the road, meets an old hunter and asked him:
– “Are you a man?”
– “Yes, I am a man”, – he replied.
– “In that case, show me your strength.”
– “We are too close to each other; stand a little farther away!” – said the hunter to the leopard.
The snow leopard moved away from the hunter and stood a little farther away. Then the hunter told him:
– “Now turn your face to me and look straight in my eye, but do not move.”
He took his bow and drove an arrow straight into the forehead of the snow leopard, saying:
– “This is my strength! I have no greater strength!”
Wolf and fox
The wolf grew old and could no longer feed himself. He began to think how he could be so that he would not starve to death.
God only knows how long he judged himself this way and that, and then he started a rumor among the forest dwellers: 'The wolf has grown old, has fallen deathly ill and is now lying in his cave'.
The beasts began to visit him as if he were sick, some with the saigisgard16, and others without it.
Many animal tracks led to the wolf's cave, but not a single track led back.
At last the fox came to visit the sick wolf, she stopped far from the cave where the wolf lay, and said to him:
– “May your illnesses leave you, wolf!”
– “Live with a cheerful heart and hello! Come closer”, – answered the wolf.
– “I should have visited you long ago”, – said the fox. “It is my duty: you are the elder of our family, and all of us should respect you.”
– “I am very grateful to you,” – said the wolf. “But come to my cave, sit near me a little, because I am exhausted in my loneliness!”
The fox looks at the tracks of the beasts, which lead only to the cave, and said:
– “No, Elder, pardon me! I have no time to go into your cave. And it is surprising: there are many tracks leading to you, and not a single one can be seen from you.”
The fox said so and went home.
The bear, the wolf and the fox
A bear, a wolf and a fox lived together. They had a jug full of butter.
In the fall, the bear, the wolf and the fox went out to harvest. The fox decided to eat the butter one day.
They worked hard, and suddenly the fox screamed:
– “Ooh, ooh, ooh!”
– “What happened, why are you screaming?” – The bear and the wolf asked her.
– “How can I not scream?” – answered the fox. “The aldars – may the dead be in their house! – want to give their boy a name and call me on this occasion.”
The bear and the wolf let the fox go, and she went to her house and ate butter. Then returned to the bear and the wolf. They asked her:
– “What name did they give the boy?”
– “Dalbylta, – answered the fox.”
By lunchtime the fox was hungry again and shouted again:
– “Ooo-ooh!”
– “What happened again?” – asked the bear and the wolf. And the fox said:
– “The name I gave them – may their dead man be carried out of the house! – They didn't like it. They invite me again.”
She went home and emptied the jug of oil halfway. Then she went back.
– “What name did you give him?” – they asked her.
And so she answered:
– “Astawnarag-Gurvidawc.”
They continued reaping. The time began to approach evening, and the fox again raised a cry:
– “Ooh, ooh, ooh!”
– “What has happened again?” – asked the bear and the wolf.
The fox replied:
– “Let there be a dead man in their house! The aldars' boy does not like his name, he is capricious, and they demand me back.”
The fox came back to her house and ate all the butter clean, and filled the jug with ashes. She returned to the reapers and they asked her:
– “What did you call him now?”
– “Bynsarft*”, – the fox answered them.
When evening came, they returned home and decided: 'We are tired and hungry, let us eat a little of our butter.
The bear went to the jug, looked into it, and there were only ashes in it:
– “Look, there are only ashes in it!” – he said to the wolf and the fox.
– “It's ashes from the top of the oil,” said the fox. “Blow on it!”
The bear blew on the ashes and went blind. The wolf and the fox were teasing him, but he saw nothing and only growled in the corner.
– “Let's go to him”, – the fox suggested to the wolf. “You will be in front, and I’ll be behind you, and then tell him: “Let there be happiness in your house!”
They approached the bear, saying these words. And the bear reached out his paw, caught the wolf by the muzzle and skinned it.
Then the wolf realized that the fox had bypassed him, deceived him, and said:
– “Eat your own dung if I don't kill you!”
The fox ran away from him. She reached a hill at the foot of which shepherds were herding sheep. When she saw them, she sat down and began to weave a kutu17.
– “Hey, knave”, – shouted a wolf from afar. “You are a master of colorful colors! I would have to get to you, and you would not be left alive!”
The fox pretended as if she was not afraid of him, and hastily weaved her kutu.
– “What do you need this kutu for?” – asked the wolf in surprise.
– “Hush!” – replied the fox. “I'm in a hurry, before the shepherds drive their sheep further away. I'll climb into the kutu and roll from here to the shepherds. They won't be able to see me. I'll drag the sheep into the kutu and eat them.”
The wolf liked the fox's idea.
– “Weave a kutu for me”, – he said, “And I will forgive you all the offenses you have caused me.”
The fox pretended as if the wolf's request was unpleasant to her, and she agreed as if against her will. She forced the wolf into the kutu, braided it tightly, let it roll down the hill toward the shepherds, and shouted to them:
– “The wolf is rolling toward you!”
The shepherds ran up to the kutu and killed the wolf on the spot, and the fox, unharmed, fled.
The bear, the wolf and the fox
The fox, the wolf and the bear were friends. They had four loaves of bread. They had one bread each, and one bread was left over.
They wondered what to do with the extra bread. The bear, being the strongest, said:
– “There is one bread for each of us. Let the fourth one go to the one who has the most wonderful dream.”
And so they agreed.
Soo the night came, and they went to bed. In the morning they got up and the bear suggested that they tell their friends who had the most wonderful dream. The wolf and the fox said to the bear:
– “You are the eldest, tell first what dream you yourself had.”
The bear began to tell:
– “In my dream I found myself in a bee-house among sapetoks full of honey, and let's eat the whitest honey, I ate this honey to the brim!”
– “Well, what did you see in your dream?” – asked the bear and the fox the wolf.
– “I was in a dream in a stable with lambs”, – said the wolf. “I was walking between them one way and another, tearing off the lambs' curds and eating them. And now I am exhausted from satiety.”
– “And what did you dream, fox, what dream did you have?”
– “What could I see in my dream?” – said the fox. “I looked at you, and when I saw one of you eating honey and the other eating the curds of lambs, I could not sleep. I couldn't sleep, so I ate the extra bread.”
The bear became angry and said:
– “In that case we won't divide these three loaves equally.”
– “How are we going to eat them?” – asked the wolf and the fox.
– “Let each of us tell how he gets drunk, and the one of us who gets drunk the fastest will get all three loaves.”
– “Let it be as you say” – replied the wolf and the fox. “But you, bear, are the eldest, tell us first how and what makes you drunk.”
The bear began to tell:
– “As soon as the wort is leavened and it begins to ferment and bubbles rise to the surface, so the arachnous spirit of leaven strikes me in the head, and I get drunk at once.”
– “Well, wolf, and now you”, – said the bear and the fox to the wolf.
– “As soon as the fermented arak wort is poured into cauldrons and put on the fire to make arak, and as soon as the arak spirit starts to come out of the pipe, it hits me in the head and I get drunk.”
Without saying anything, the fox quickly jumped to his feet, shook and fell down without feeling.
The bear and the wolf were frightened, rushed to her and asked:
– “What happened to you?”
They wet her throat with water. A lot of time passed, and the fox still lay senseless. Finally she came to her senses. The bear and the wolf asked her anxiously:
– “What happened to you, fox?”
– “From your talk about drinking I got drunk!” – the fox answered them in a weak voice.
And all three loaves went to the fox.
Two gifts
In one village – who knows in what village and who knows when – there lived two people, two neighbors: Ahsar and Aslan. Ahsar was a kind, hardworking man: he would get up early in the morning and start working, and work tirelessly until late in the evening. If someone asked him for help, he would not refuse, he would share the last of his money.
Aslan was a calculating, cunning and greedy man. He did not like to work himself, but always wanted others to work for him. And he thought only about one thing – how to grab more and get rich. Aslan would come to the poor hut of Ahsar and ask:
– “Neighbor, dear, bring me some firewood! Neighbor, dear, help me fix the barn!”
It is impossible not to help a neighbor! Ahsar puts aside his business and goes to Aslan. And the rich man won't even think of thanking him. No way! He trembled over every coin, over every piece.
And so they lived year after year. They would have lived like that all their lives, if one strange event hadn't happened.
Once on a cold autumn day, a poor man, Ahsar, went to the forest to get firewood. He worked hard for a long time and got hungry. He thought of one thing only: how he could get home as soon as possible, eat and warm himself. He put the wood on the wagon, tied it tightly with a rope and set off at last.
The horse climbed up the mountain with difficulty. Ahsar shouted: “Go!” – But he remembered that the horse had a hard time too, and started pushing the heavy wagon himself.
As Ahsar approached his village, he suddenly heard a small bird squeaking pitifully somewhere. Ahsar listened and went to the place where the squeak was coming from. He saw a swallow with a broken wing sitting on the wattle, shivering with cold… Ahsar took it, put it gently in his pocket and said:
– “May the one who broke your wing have no happiness in life! Now you should be flying in warm lands and be happy…”
Ahsar came home and together with his wife carefully bandaged the broken wing of the swallow. He put the stern in front of the swallow and said:
– “Don't grieve, you won't perish! And in spring you will fly wherever you want!”
All winter long Ahsar and his wife looked after the sick swallow as if it were their favorite child, and by spring it had recovered completely. And when the birds returned from warm lands, Ahsar took the swallow out of his hut and let it go free. The swallow soared, chirped, and then descended and made a nest under the roof of Ahsar's hut. And Ahsar and his wife looked at the swallow's nest and rejoiced as if they had received a precious reward for their care.
In the fall, when it was time to fly to warm lands, the swallow chirped loudly – as if saying goodbye to kind people – and flew away....
“Will it come back to us next spring?” – Ahsar and his wife thought: “Will she remember us?”
The swallow did not forget them. As soon as spring came, she flew straight to her nest and chirped merrily. When the poor people heard her voice, they came out and said:
– “Our swallow has arrived! She has not forgotten us!”
And the swallow flew above them and threw some grain at their feet.
Ahsar picked up the grain, put it on his palm, examined it and said to his wife:
– “Look, what a grain, I have never seen such a grain!”
– “Let's plant it in the ground, said his wife, and see what will grow!”
So they planted the swallow's grain in the garden on a bed and waited.
The grain did not stay in the ground for long. Soon it sprouted, broad leaves unfolded, a twig crawled along the ground, an unseen flower bloomed, and a round pumpkin appeared. This pumpkin began to grow and grew so big that people gathered from everywhere, looked at it and marveled.
The rich neighbor Aslan came too. He looked at the pumpkin and said:
– “You, neighbor, give me the seeds from this pumpkin by all means! I want such big pumpkins to grow in my garden!”
When the pumpkin was ripe, Ahsar and his wife could hardly roll it into the barn – it was so heavy! Ahsar brought a knife and wanted to cut the strange pumpkin, but he could not – the knife bent. He brought an axe, he hit it and it broke.
“What can I do?” – thinks Ahsar.
Suddenly the gourd opened by itself and gold coins spilled out of it. All those who were there were petrified with amazement, but then they came to their senses and ran around the village to tell what a marvel had happened.
Aslan heard about it and was the first to run to Ahsar's yard, shouting:
– “Where, where is the gold? Show me quickly!”
As soon as he saw the pile of gold, he turned green with envy – he became greener than grass. He began to question Ahsar in a sweet voice:
– “Tell me, dear neighbor, be a friend, where you got such a wonderful seed…?”
He told Ahsar everything as it was, from whom he had received this wonderful seed.
Aslan ran out of his yard and rushed to look for the swallows. He saw swallows sitting on the wattle, chirping merrily, going to warm lands. Aslan crept up, picked up a stone, dodged and threw it at the swallows. The swallows flew away screaming, but one with a broken wing remained… Aslan grabbed it, clenched it in his fist and brought it home.
Aslan hastily bandaged the swallow's wing and put it in an empty trunk. All winter long he fed it and every now and then said:
– “I wish spring would come soon!”
By spring the swallow recovered, its wing healed, and when Aslan released it, it soared under the clouds and flew away. Aslan looked up and thought:
“Was it in vain that I spent the whole winter with this swallow? Maybe it will never come to me again…”
The summer passed, the fall passed, and winter came again. This time it seemed long to greedy Aslan. He couldn't wait for spring to come, for a swallow to fly in and bring him a present. But at last spring has come. Aslan knows no rest – all day long he was walking near his house, looking up at the sky to see if a swallow is flying..... He almost sprained his neck.
One day Aslan heard a swallow chirping above his head. He trembled with joy, put up his beshmet and shouted:
– “Throw it, throw it quickly!”
The swallow threw the grain. Aslan grabbed it and immediately buried it in the vegetable garden on the prepared bed.
Aslan guarded the bed day and night, and when the flower wilted and the pumpkin appeared, he even moved his bed here and slept on the bed.
He watched the pumpkin growing, rejoiced and whispered:
– “Grow bigger, grow bigger! Twice, three times bigger than Ahsar's!…”
The pumpkin grew and grew, and finally it has become an outgrowth – ripe, yellowed, it can be taken off. At night, when people had gone to bed, Aslan called his workers and ordered them to roll the pumpkin into the house. “So”,
he thought, “it will be better, our gawkers will not be able to find out how much gold I have, or they will still ask for a loan!…”
When the workers with difficulty rolled the pumpkin into the farthest room, Aslan shouted:
– “Now all of you get away, go to bed and don't peek!”
The workers left, and greedy Aslan quietly went around the house, checked whether his wife and children were sleeping soundly and whether they would not interfere with his counting of gold coins. After that he locked the door, sat down near the pumpkin and waited for it to open. He sat there, shaking with impatience, and thought:
“I'll be the richest now! I will not, like that fool Ahsar, give away my gold left and right! I won't give a single coin to anyone!”
Suddenly, the huge gourd shook, a loud crack was heard – it opened… Only it was not gold coins that spilled out of the gourd, but black snakes crawled out – hissing and wriggling. They pounced on greedy Aslan and began to bite him… Aslan shouted, began to call for help, but no one heard him....
There is a proverb: “As life goes, so goes the end.”
Funuktiz, the youngest of three brothers
Once upon a time there were three brothers. The youngest of them liked to sit by the hearth closer to the ashes, so he was called Funuktiz. They had a field of millet at the edge of the forest. One day they were told that someone's horse had poisoned their crops.
The eldest brother said:
– “I'm going to watch our field.”
He went and slept somewhere and came home. The brothers asked him:
– “Did you see anyone out there?”
– “I didn't see anyone, no one came to the field,” – he answered.
The second brother went to guard the millet field. He too said that he had not seen anyone.
It was the younger brother's turn.
– “Let me go to guard the field too!” – he said.
The older brothers asked him:
– “Where are you going, what can you watch out for?”
But he still went to watch the millet field. He saw an unknown horse appear in the field. Funuktiz crept up to him and caught him by the mane. He wanted to beat the horse, but the horse appealed to him with a request:
– “Let me go, I'll be of use to you!”
– “How can I let you go”, – Funuktiz said to him. “If you go away, what use can you be to me?”
The horse gave him the bridle and said:
– “If you need me, come here and wave it, and I will come to you.”
Funuktiz believed him, took the bridle, let him go and returned home. He hid the bridle and then went into the house. The brothers asked Funuktiz:
– “Well, did you see anyone?” And he answered them:
– “I saw nothing, no one came to the field.”
There was an aldar in the village where the brothers lived, and he had a beautiful daughter. She stayed in the tower and never came down from it, spending all her days there. She had been wooed by many, but her father had not yet given her away to anyone. But one day he announced to the villages:
– “I'm giving my daughter in marriage. Let all the suitors gather! I will marry my daughter to whoever can steal the ring from my daughter's hand while flying past the tower.”
The suitors gathered from all sides. Funuktiz's two brothers also gathered there, and they said to him:
– “You stay to guard the house!”
Funuktiz asked his brothers to take him with them, but they shouted at him:
– “Why should you go? You will disgrace us too!”
So the brothers left, and they left Funuktiz to guard the house. When they left, Funuktiz grabbed the bridle and did as the horse had taught him: he waved the bridle and the horse came before him.
– “What do you desire?” – asked the horse. Funuktiz answered him:
– “I need your help.”
– “What happened, tell me?”
Funuktiz told him everything as it was and added:
– “The aldar is giving his daughter in marriage. I have to go there too.”
The horse said:
– “Take a saddle out of my ear and saddle me! And out of my other ear take out your clothes.”
Funuktiz did as the horse told him. He saddled the horse, put on his new clothes and sat down to ride. The horse said to him:
– “Today we will only fly past the tower and refrain from the rest.”
Funuktiz arrived on his horse at the tower of the aldar's daughter. And there is a multitude of horses and men. Each one hopes for success, but none of them comes close to the goal.
Then Funuktiz gave light blows to his horse, rode his horse one way and another and flew past the tower. It wasn't much further to the goal, but he limited himself to that for now.
That day no one succeeded in becoming an aldar's son-in-law. The suitors had gone away. Funuktiz rode away on his horse, hid his clothes, hid his belongings where they were kept, released his horse, and returned home. He sat down in his unsightly clothes and sat as if he had never been anywhere.
His brothers showed up. Funuktiz asked them:
– “Well, what news? You didn't take me with you, but give me news!”
– “What news can we give you? If you had come with us, you would have dishonored us. There appeared such a rider that we could not understand whether he was a heavenly inhabitant or an earthly man: he flew on his horse and left, and everyone looked after him with great amazement.”
– “All right, all right”, – said Funuktiz, “you have forbidden me to go there.”
The aldar set a time for the second day, saying:
– “If there is any rider anywhere else who wishes to try his luck, let him come!”
Funuktiz's brothers and on the second day decide to go there. Funuktiz asked them:
– “This time let me also go with you: there is no shame in seeing people.”
But the brothers replied:
– “Sit still at home and guard him!”
– “In that case you will at least tell me the news on your return”, – said Funuktiz to them.
When they had gone away, Funuktiz seized the bridle and waved it, and the horse immediately came before him:
– “What do you want?” Funuktiz said to him:
– “We have to go there again.”
– “All right”, – said the horse, and gave him an extraordinary outfit: his clothes and saddle all glittered with gold. Funuktiz got on his horse and set out on the road.
And the beautiful girl looked down from the tower and saw him on horseback in the distance. Until then she had been quiet in her tower, but now she began to play the fandura18, and people were surprised:
– “What a marvel? Hitherto she had been quiet in her tower, and now what had put her in a merry mood?”
Meanwhile Funuktiz rode into the courtyard of the tower, and all the people who were there looked at him in great surprise.
The grooms took turns to try their prowess. When the turn came to Funuktiz, he warmed up his horse a little, gave it light blows with a whip, jigged it to one side, and in the other direction it flew past the tower. But still, even this time, he had not yet made up his mind to make a bold move. When they were alone, the horse said to him:
– “Now we'll do it for the last time, and everything will depend on you and your prowess!”
When it was Funuktiz's turn again, he spurred his horse and flew past the tower; the beautiful girl kept her eyes on him; Funuktiz instantly rushed through the window into the tower and snatched the ring from the hand of the aldar's daughter.
People began to clap for Funuktiz for winning the aldar's daughter. Funuktiz kicked his horse and rode away from there, and the people looked after him in great surprise. He took the horse back to his place, let him go, and dressed himself in his beggarly clothes, returned home, sat down and sat as if he had never been anywhere.
The brothers returned, and Funuktiz asked them:
– “What news? Tell me at least the news!” And they answered him:
– “What news are you asking us? There is no news that we can tell you. Only there appeared such a horseman that we could not know whether he was a heavenly inhabitant or an earthly man. And so he won the aldar's daughter.”
Meanwhile the aldar gave orders:
– “Tomorrow I want to meet my son-in-law, gather all of you!”
The people gathered in unprecedented numbers. The brothers of Funuk-tiza also went there. The aldar set tables for the people, and all sat down at them.
The beautiful girl came down from the tower and went round one row with a large bowl in her hands, but she gave the bowl to no one; she went round the second row, and there was no one there to whom she would give the bowl; in anger she struck the bowl on the ground, and the bowl broke to pieces.
And Funuktiz did not yet appear.
Then the aldar said:
– “Invite everyone, leave no one anywhere, neither worthy nor unworthy!”
Funuktiz appeared in his beggar's clothes and sat down at the edge of the table with the younger men. He covered the ring on his hand with a bandage of rags, as if he had cut his finger.
The aldar's daughter came down from the tower again with a large bowl of beer in her hands and walked around the table, but she could not stop her gaze on anyone. At last she went toward the younger ones to look around at them as well.
When she reached Funuktiz, he made sure the ring was visible from under the bandage. The aldar's daughter sighted the ring and the bowl was presented to Funuktiz.
People were surprised at the choice of the aldar's daughter:
– “A good son-in-law the beautiful girl has found for her father!” – they said.
The aldar, distressed, called his daughter to him and said to her:
– “It would be better for me, my daughter, to die than to bear the shame of your not being able to choose a better husband!”
But what was left for the aldar to do? He gave an order:
– “My daughter is to be married tomorrow, and let all the people gather!”
And Funuktiz went again to his horse, and he equipped him better than before. He went to the aldar house. A girl was looking down from the tower, saw him in the distance, and began to play quite merrily on the fandura. The aldar wondered how she could be pleased with such a choice.
Funuktiz rode into the courtyard and dismounted. When the aldar saw him, he could not help but rejoice.
He treated his guests for a week, and then he gave his daughter everything, gave her some of his property, and Funuktiz brought the aldar’s daughter into his house.
Then his brothers found out what he was really like. They began to live and live, and they still do.
As we have not seen them, so let no misfortune or disease visit us!
A silly son
There was a rich man. When he died, he bequeathed all his wealth to his only son.
“My son”, – said the rich man. “Here are all my riches, which I have saved up all my life. I am dying now, but I would like to give you some advice on how to use my inheritance. When you become the full owner of my entire estate, build towers in every village and eat your bread with honey.”
The rich man died. The son began to fulfill his father's will from that very moment. He built towers in every village and ate his bread with honey. It is not known how long he lived like that, but at last he became poor: he did not have enough money. And now poor, hungry, without even a corner where he could bow his head, he began to curse his father:
– “O my father! May you see no good in the other world! You gave me wealth, and by your own foolish counsel you have squandered it.”
– “Why do you curse your father?” – an old friend of his father's turned to him. – “What did he do to you?”
– “When my father left his wealth, he told me to build towers in every village and to eat bread only with honey. I did so, and now I have no kennel to keep me warm, and I am forced to wander.”
– “It is not your father's fault, and you curse him in vain… Your foolishness is to blame. How could you not understand your father's good covenant? He did not command you to build towers in every village, but to make friends everywhere who are faithful and reliable like a tower of stone; he did not command you to eat bread with honey, but to eat it when it seems honey to you after work… If you had done all this, you would not have become so poor.”
The unwise son went and did as the old man had said: in every village he made trustworthy and reliable friends and ate bread when it seemed as sweet as honey. Soon he was twice as rich as before.
Orphan girl
Once upon a time there was a poor man and his wife, and they had an only daughter.
They lived together for a while, and then the poor man's wife died. The poor man married and lived with his new wife. She also gave birth to a daughter. The stepmother treated the orphan very badly and constantly scolded her.
The orphan was already at the age of a bride. Her friends would go dancing, and she would stay at home and cry. Her stepmother kept her as a beggar.
The stepmother's own daughter had grown up. She dressed her up, pampered her with all sorts of outfits, sent her to dances, though she was not yet old enough to do so.
Before her father came home from work, the stepmother would hide the orphan under the hearthstone, and send her daughter to the dance. When the father returned home, he would usually ask his wife, “Where are our daughters?” and the wife would answer him that they had gone to the dance. Only after the father left did she let the orphan out, and when he returned home she locked her under a stone again.
One day the father returned and asked:
– “Where are our girls?”
The stepmother replied, as usual, that they had gone to the dance, and added:
– “Why are you worrying about them, asking about them?” But then a dog from the yard howled at her words:
– “She hid the orphan under the hearthstone, and dressed up her daughter and sent her to the dance!”
– “Why did she howl?” – The stepmother grumbled and sent the dog away.
The dog howled the same way the second time. The father understood her howl, said nothing, but thought about it. It is rightly said: whose are these father and mother? And the orphan continued to live with her stepmother, enduring all kinds of torments from her.
One day the orphan's friends went out dancing again. She was left alone, went out into the yard, leaned against the latch of the stable and began to cry.
– “Why was I born so unhappy? It would have been better not to have been born than to endure this suffering.”
A poor man had a cow in his stable. She listened to the girl's crying for a long time, and then she came close to her and asked:
– “What are you crying for? What do you want?”
– “Why am I crying?” – replied the girl. “I am crying over my miserable life! My friends go dancing, and my stepmother keeps me like a beggar. That's why I cry.”
– “Don't cry about it!” – said the cow. Come with me to a more private place.
So she took the orphan to a more private place and said to her: – Take out my right horn, take from it all that you need from your clothes, and get dressed!
The orphan took out the horn and put on her best clothes. The cow told her:
– “Now take out my left horn also, and take from there all that you need of shoes and of hats.”
She took it all out of there and dressed herself up beautifully. The cow said to her:
– “Gather up your old garment for now, put it in my horn, and put the horn back in its place. But look, come back early from the dance.”
The girl did as the cow had taught her: she put her old garment into the horn and put the horn back in its place. Cheerful and dressed up, she went straight to the dance. There no one recognized her. She captivated everyone and had extraordinary success with the young men. The heart of the orphan girl was filled with joy.
Remembering the cow's instruction, she returned home early. The cow secluded her again in a private place, and there the orphan girl hurriedly, excited with joy, took off her clothes. She was afraid that no one might catch her, so she quickly removed the cow's horn, took out her old clothes, and wrapped the new ones tightly and put them into the horn. Then she took off her shoes and headdress and put them in another horn. She put her horns on the cow and put on her old clothes.
– “If ever you need my help, come to me, but now go home and don't cry!”
The girl entered the hadzara and sat by the hearth as if she had never been anywhere. The stepmother asked her:
– “Where have you been loitering all day?”
– “Where could I have been?” – The orphan girl replied: “Do you think I can go dancing like this? I was at the neighbor's.”
Meanwhile, her own daughter returns from the dance. Her mother asked her:
– “Well, what news, what was it at the dance?” And the daughter said:
– “You also, called, dressed me up! At the dance there was a girl-guest, so beautiful, slender and dressed up! That's what I saw at the dance, and there was nothing else good there.”
And so they lived: the orphan girl sat by the hearth, and the stepmother's daughter went dancing.
“One day the dance was at the neighbors'. The orphan girl's friends went there as usual. And the stepmother's daughter went there too. The orphan girl was upset and went to the cow again.” The cow asked her:
– “What do you want?”
– “What do I want?” – she said.
– “My friends are going to the dance again, and I'm staying home.”
The cow took her to a hiding place again and said:
– “Quickly take out of my horns your clothes, shoes and headdress so that no one sees you.”
The orphan girl nimbly took all these things out of the horns, and hid all her old things in them. When she had dressed up, the cow said to her:
– “Then come back early, as I told you to! The orphan girl went to the dance. As soon as she was there, she became the centerpiece of the dance. She had an extraordinary success with all the dancers and spent the whole day until evening. Shortly before the end she left the dance, cautiously entered the stable, hid her garment in the horns of a cow, dressed herself in all her old clothes, went into the hadzara and sat there.”
Meanwhile, the stepmother and her daughter returned. The daughter asked her mother:
– “Did you go to see the dance?”
– “Yes”, – replied the mother.
– “Have you met such a girl-guest anywhere?”
– “No, I've never met one. You are right: she is slim and beautifully dressed.”
After a while, there was dancing again in some other place. This time the stepmother saw the orphan girl dressed up.
The girl dressed up, hid her old clothes and went to the dance. And so that no one would recognize her, she came back early again, hid her new outfit, put on her old one and sat down in the hadzara as usual. She hears the stepmother saying to her husband:
– “Let's slaughter the cow.” The husband replied to her:
– “We have only one cow, how will we live without it?”
– “She has not calved”, – said the wife. “She has no milk. Let's get another cow instead.”
The orphan girl listened to their conversation, stealthily went to the cow and said:
– “They decided to slaughter you tomorrow. What should I do?”
The cow asked the orphan girl:
– “Is it sure?”
– “Yes, it is.”
– “In that case, pick up a handful of ashes and when I am felled and my father prepares to slaughter me, be ready. Throw a handful of ashes in his eyes. When he is frightened, he will drop the knife and take care of himself; you be nimble, grab the knife and run away, and I will run after you.”
On the appointed day the orphan girl's father took the cow out of the stable and fell down to slaughter it. The orphan girl, on the cow's advice, gathered a full handful of ashes and stood so that she could not be seen. When the father was about to run the knife down the cow's throat, the orphan girl threw the handful of ashes into her father's eyes. He shouted: “You killed me!” – and threw the knife. The orphan girl picked up the knife, ran out into the street, and started running onward. The cow jumped up on her feet and followed her.
The two of them ran together and came to the nearest village. A homely owner met them, welcomed them as guests and asked them:
– “Where do you come from, what side are you from?”
They told him everything that had happened to them. They spent the night there, and in the morning the host said:
– “I have no children, and I will take the girl as my daughter.”
The girl and the cow thought for a long time and agreed, as there was no better place for them anywhere.
He began to give the girl outfits. Her life became better and her heart became lighter. She became known as a stately and well-mannered girl. People came from all sides who wanted to marry her.
– “How would you like, the new father asked the girl, to live with me or to marry you off?”
The girl answered him:
– “I will agree with everything you say, even if you throw me into the river. Don't ask me anything!”
The new father (we'll call him that) liked the girl's modesty and intelligence.
– “I have not admired you enough yet”, – he said to her. “And I want you to stay with us a little longer.”
So he said to his wife, and they did not marry her yet.
One day the girl passed by a cow, and the cow said to her:
– “Your life has improved, and you must have forgotten me. But come closer to me and I will ask you something.”
The girl came closer to the cow.
–
“Tell me briefly, how do you live?” – asked her a cow.
The girl tells her:
– “My life is very good now. I have everything, I don't need anything.”
– “All right”, – said the cow. Then the girl said to the cow:
– “I want to ask you something too.”
– “Of course, ask me all what you want, said the cow.” The girl asked:
– “Many people are looking for my hand, and I don't know what to do.”
– “Do as your new father tells you, don't upset him in any way!” – the cow answered her.
– “I understood my new father's wish”, – replied the girl, and then he told me that he had not admired me enough and that I should live together with them.”
–" “He tells you wisely. Do as he said.”
– “And what is your life like?” – the girl ask the cow. “You've been a great help to me.”
– “And my life is twice as good as before, the cow answers her.”
So they lived and lived for about a year. From the good life the girl blossomed, and those who were looking for her hand got excited again. Many rich young men married her, but her new father did not give her away to any of them.
Then an orphan boy began to match her, and the girl liked him.
In the meantime, the father instructed the mother (and we shall call her so):
– “Find out from her who she likes, she's too shy to tell me.”
– “All right, said the mother, I'll find out what she wants.”
She listed to the girl in conversation all the seekers of her hand and said that it was a common thing, let her answer without shyness who she liked the most.
The girl gave her mother no answer. When she spoke of the young orphan boy, she was silent, and her mother became suspicious. She began to ask even harder, and the girl let her know that she wished to marry the young orphan: she and he had loved each other for a long time.
– “All right”, – said the mother and did not ask anything more.
The next day the father returned from the Balts. He had dinner, rested and asked his wife:
– “I instructed you to find out the girl's wish, did you find out anything?”
The wife answered him:
– “I have asked her about all the seekers of her hand, but she does not wish to marry any of them except the orphan boy.”
The father was silent. And the next day, when it dawned, he said:
– The matter of the girl must be settled.”
In the afternoon the matchmakers of the orphan boy showed up. The father said to his wife:
– “Find out again definitely her desire, and if she wants, then today we will give her away. There's no need to go back and forth repeatedly. Either give her away or refuse!”
The mother has found out the girl's wish. Meanwhile, the matchmakers are sitting in another room, waiting. The new father said to them:
– “Come tonight, your business is going well.”
They said they would come in the evening and left, having received a firm promise. They returned to the groom's house. The groom's father asked: – How is it going? The matchmakers answered:
– “The matter is good, a conspiracy will take place in the evening, they gave us their word.”
By evening they had prepared viands, and drink, and everything necessary. At the appointed time the matchmakers again appeared at the bride's house. The father for his part invited two of his neighbors, and the same evening the matchmaking took place, but the conversation between them was not yet finished.
The matchmakers turn to the father and say:
– “We will have conversation here, but the youngest of us must be sent to the house of the bridegroom, we must consecrate three cakes there.”
And they sent the youngest to inform them about the situation. And in the bride's house the conversation went on:
– “We've made our agreement, but we need to know when the wedding will take place. What date do you set?” – the matchmakers asked the father. “By what time will you be ready?”
Father gave them his word:
– “I'll give you a month's time without deceit.” In the meantime, a messenger from the groom's house came:
– “We too are ready and waiting for you.”
They gathered their neighbors and relatives and appeared at the house of their new relative. There they feasted and made merry all night long. Day found them in the groom's house, and they said:
– “It is time for us to go already!”
They got up, thanked their hosts and left. They came to the girl's new father, had fun there too, then thanked their hosts and went home.
Both houses began to prepare for the wedding. They prepared all the food and drinks, as well as the bride's outfit from head to toe.
A month later, on the appointed day, the groom's house sent a message:
– “Give us our bride!” The girl's father answered them:
– “We are ready! There will be no delay on our part!”
The kindzhons came to the bride's house. They seated them at tables and feasted for a week.
Then the elders turn to the best man and say to him:
– “Now it's time! As it is proper to come on time, so it is proper to leave on time!”
The best man came to fetch the bride, took her out, put her on a carriage and left.
The Kindzhon then rose from the tables, thanked, sang the wedding hwaridada (father’s sister) and left the bride's house. With the wedding song they brought the bride to the groom's house, and there they live until today.
As we have not seen them, may the God save us from every misfortune and disease! May God grant us to leave this place safely!
The only daughter of poor parents
Once upon a time there was a poor husband and wife. They had an only daughter. They had a mill that fed them. The daughter grew up and got pregnant. She befriended a guy. They lived like that for a while and her parents knew nothing about it. They fell in love with each other hard, to the depths of their souls, and the young man decided to marry her. So he often visited the house of the bride's parents. The parents guessed that the young man wanted to marry their daughter. After several visits, the groom openly told the bride's father:
– “This is the wish I have long held in my heart, and now I have decided to tell you openly that I am wooing your daughter for myself.”
The bride's father knew his wish, but he did not give him an answer at once, but set a time for tomorrow, saying:
– “Tomorrow I will give you a definite answer.”
This deadline he appointed for him deliberately, saying to his wife thus:
– “If he has some mind, he will come tomorrow without dressing up specially for the occasion. If he has no mind, he will dress up, and then I will not marry my daughter to him. His intelligence in that case will not satisfy me.”
On the second day the bridegroom, unusually dressed up, came to the house of the bride's parents. Seeing the bridegroom dressed up, the mother and father consulted and decided to refuse him:
– “We cannot marry our daughter to him, they said to themselves.”
When their daughter found out that her parents did not want to give her away to this bridegroom, she openly said to them:
– “Whether you want or not, I will marry this young man, and it will be better if you give me away to him, as is customary.”
So she said to her parents, and then, after thinking about it, she decided to go to a sorceress.
A day passed, and on the second day the mother saw her daughter silently making pies. She made many pies, and the mother asked her:
– “What's the matter with you, daughter? Why do you need so many pies?”
– “I want to go fishing”, – answered the daughter. “And I may need them.”
The sorceress lived on the island. The girl stocked a boat in advance to get to the sorceress. She told her mother that she was going fishing, but she went straight to the boat and sat in it, pushed the boat away from the shore and made her way to the sorceress's house. She swam to the house of the sorceress, got off the boat and went into her house. There was darkness in the house of the sorceress and nothing could be distinguished. After a while her eyes got used to the darkness and the girl saw a big eagle on the shelf. The eagle flew down from the shelf, sat on the girl's shoulder and asked her:
– “Hello, beautiful girl! Where are you from, what news do you have? Did you bring me something to eat?”
– “I brought these pies”, – the girl answered.
The woman ate a few pies, put the rest aside and said to the girl:
– “Now tell me about your business. You did not come to me for nothing.”
The girl began to tell about her affairs:
– “I have a fiancé, we love each other. He wants to marry me, but my father won't marry me to him. Tell me, is my father's death near or far?”
A sorceress in the form of an eagle answered her:
– “I can't tell you anything now, I must find out for sure. I will be able to give you an answer next time.”
She sent the girl away and told her to come back the following Friday. When the girl was about to go home, the sorceress said to her:
– “Your pies are surprisingly tasty, bring more of them!”
The girl got into the boat and returned home at dusk.
– “Why are you back so late?” – asked the mother. “Where were you until now?”
– “Why did I come back late?” – she answered gruffly, pretending to be very tired. “Because there was nothing in my ramblings. I've only wasted my time and now I'm back home.”
On the Thursday before the Friday, appointed by the sorceress to visit her, the girl started to cook pies in the evening and made as many as she wanted. Her mother asked her again:
– “What are you doing, daughter, why have you made so many pies? Are you going out again?”
– “I'll try again! I won't go home this time until I catch something.”
On Friday morning she got into a boat and came to the hungry sorceress who was waiting for her. She was glad that the girl would bring her some pies so that she could satisfy her hunger.
The girl entered the sorceress's house and sat down on her seat. The sorceress could not resist, flew down from the shelf, sat on her shoulder and said in her ear:
– “Have you brought me the promised pies?”
The girl answered her that she had brought them.
– “I am very hungry, said the sorceress, give me some pies to eat.”
The girl gave her all the pies she had brought. The sorceress ate half of the pies and wrapped up the other half and put it aside.
– “You have brought me delicious pies!” – she said to the girl.
And the girl told her:
– “I want to know something definite about my business.”
The sorceress replied:
– “I have learned definitely that your father has only two years to live, he won't live any longer. Exactly in two years he will die, and if you want to wait for his death, or else do as you wish.”
The girl thought for a moment and said:
– “If you say it is true that in two years my father will die, then I will wait; but if it is not true, then tell me more accurately.”
– “I tell you firmly, the sorceress answered her, that he will not live more than two years.”
The girl believed the sorceress, said goodbye to her and went to her home. She returned home late, it was already dark, and her mother asked her:
– “Why did you, daughter, come back so late? Where have you been till now?”
The daughter replied, feigning displeasure:
– “No way I'm going fishing again! Nothing got into my hands!”
On the second day afterward, the bride and groom meet. The groom asked the bride what the sorceress advised her.
– “The sorceress told me that my father will live no more than two years”, – the girl replied.
They both thought for a long time and decided to wait until their father died, and in the meantime to live together secretly. As they decided, they lived like that.
The mother and father were very hurt that their daughter did not obey them. They did not suspect and did not know that their daughter had sought advice from a sorceress. She kept as if she did not think about her fiancé, forgot him, entertained her parents and lived together with them. Meanwhile, the day of her father's death had come. He died. After his death, the mother no longer objected to her daughter marrying her fiancé. The wedding was performed according to the custom and the groom took his bride to his home. Soon after, the mother also died, and then the newlyweds decided:
– “Let's move to my parents' house, put the mill in order, it will give us some profit.”
They sold their own houses and moved to the house of their wife's parents. They put the mill in order and started to live there. They are still living there today.
As we do not see any of these things, may you, the listeners, not be visited by any misfortunes and diseases!
A bat and a grasshopper
A grasshopper and a bat, in order to have some fun, decided to go to a ball together. They reached the bank of a big river. They stopped on the bank of the big river and wondered how they could get to the opposite bank.
– “I will try to jump first”, – said the grasshopper.
The grasshopper jumped first, but did not reach the opposite shore and fell into the water. A wave picked him up and carried him away. In fear, the grasshopper began to call out to his comrade-in-arms:
– “I'm dying! Save me! Ask the pig for a bristle and throw it into the river, and then I will be saved.”
The bat came to the pig and asked for it:
– “A wave has picked up my companion and is carrying him away. Give me a bristle and I'll throw it into the river. The grasshopper will grab it and be saved.”
The pig answered her:
– “From the kutu, ask for grain for me, and I will give you the bristle.” The bat appears before the kutu and asked him:
O kutu! Give me grain, the grain will be eaten by the pig, the pig will give me bristles, I will throw the bristles into the river, and my companion will be saved.
Kutu replied.
– “Let the mouse stop poking holes in me!” A bat appears to the mouse and asked her:
– “Mouse! Stop poking holes in Kutu, Kutu will give grain, the grain will be eaten by a pig, the pig will give a bristle, I will throw it into the river and my mate will be saved.”
The mouse replied:
– “Forbid the cat to catch me.”
The bat came to the cat and asked her:
– “Do not catch the mouse anymore, the mouse will throw a hole kutu, the kutu will give grain, the grain will be eaten by the pig, the pig will give a bristle, I will throw the bristle into the river, and my mate will be saved.”
The cat said to her:
– “Ask the cow for milk for me!”
The bat appeared before the cow and asked her:
– “Cow, give the cat milk, the cat will stop catching the mouse, the mouse will stop poking holes in the kutu, the kutu will give grain, the grain will be eaten by the pig, the pig will give bristles, the bristles I will throw into the river, and my mate will be saved.”
The cow answered her:
– “Ask the earth for grass for me!” The bat turned to the earth:
– “Give grass for the cow! The cow will eat the grass and give milk, the milk will be eaten by the cat and the cat will stop catching the mouse, the mouse will stop poking the kutu, the kutu will give grain, the grain will be eaten by the pig and give me bristles, and I will throw the bristles into the water, and my companion will be saved.”
The earth said to the bat:
– “Let the cloud rain on me!” The bat goes up to the cloud and asked it:
– “Cloud, make it rain on the earth! The earth will give grass for the cow, the cow will give milk for the cat, the cat will stop catching the mouse, the mouse will stop poking holes in the kutu, the kutu will give grain for the pig, the pig will give me a bristle, the bristle I will throw into the water, and my companion will be saved.”
The cloud at the bat's request rained on the earth, the earth was saturated with moisture, the grass grew, the cow ate the grass and gave milk, the cat ate the milk and stopped catching the mouse, the mouse stopped poking the kutu, the kutu gave grain, the grain was eaten by the pig, the pig gave a bristle to the bat, the bat threw the bristle into the water. But the grasshopper was no longer there: either the water carried it away or the fish ate it. The bat did not find its mate and went away crying. She wasn't there when it happened, I was.
Tom Thumb, son of a poor man
Once upon a time there was a poor man. He lived in poverty on the edge of the village. As he was very poor, the village society offered him a job:
– “We'll let you herd our geese and calves, and for that we'll give you grain, flour and something else. And you can live on that.”
The poor man agreed. He began to herd the geese and calves of the village. For this he was given a bowl of grain and flour, and he lived on it.
Some time passed, and then, at the end of his years, a boy was born to him. And the boy was named Tom Thumb.
In the evening a poor man drove geese to the village, went into his house and sat down tiredly on a chair.
His wife asked him:
– “What's the matter with you, why did you sit down so tiredly on the chair?”
– “I was tired today because my calves were running away in different directions.”
Hearing his father's words, the boy in the cradle suddenly stretched, broke the walls of his cradle and said:
– “Dada (Father), if I went with you tomorrow, we would herd them together.”
The father and mother were amazed:
– “What is this? Is he a devil or a man? Yesterday he was just born, and today he has already broken the walls of his cradle and even talked!”
– “Why are you so scared?” – said the boy. “I'm still a little boy! Tell me how to herd geese and calves, eh?”
His father tells him:
– “You must keep them together so they don't go missing. You can't let them wander off.”
In the morning the father and his son Tom Thumb drove the geese and calves out of the village. There Tom Thumb began to run around the geese and calves, preventing them from scattering in different directions; the one who moved even a little farther away, he hit so that he fell dead on the spot. So they herded them all day long. The geese and calves kept running away in different directions, and Tom Thumb killed them. They brought only a few back to the village. The villagers came out to meet their geese and calves and asked the old man:
– “Where have our geese and calves gone?”
– “This unfortunate young man was with me and he killed them, said the father.”
– “We will not entrust you to herd our geese and calves anymore, the villagers said to the old man, Your son will kill them, so you must deal with him.”
But his heart did not allow the old man to get rid of his son. He lived many days without food and was starving. Finally he decided to kill his son. He borrowed a harness and a horse from his neighbors.
– “What do you need this horse and harness for?” – Tom Thumb asked him.
– “Let's go with you to the Balc (journey)”, – replied the father.
He harnessed the horse to the harness and together with Tom Thumb went to the balc. They rode for a long time through the steppe, and there they met evening.
– “Let's make a halt here”, – they said.
They stopped, looked and saw a fire flickering in the distance. Tom Thumb said to his father:
– “I'll quickly bring fire from there and we'll make a fire.”
– “Run, let the Dada eat your diseases!” Tom Thumb runs to the fire. And at night the flickering fire always seemed close. At last he reached the place and saw that the light was coming from the mound. He broke into the mound, and there was the house of the seven brothers of Wayug. All seven of them were sitting on a bench.
– “Good evening!” – Tom Thumb greeted them loudly.
– “Cheerio, cheerio, mountain bird!” – answered the Wayugs.
They sat him down with them. In front of them over the hearth there is a four-handled cauldron with a deer carcass boiling in it.
– “Make a fire under the cauldron!” – said the eldest Wayug.
At this word the Wayugs were to throw Tom Thumb into the cauldron, they wanted to eat him. But Tom Thumb himself jumped up and threw a whole fathom of wood under the cauldron.
The big brother said again:
– “Stir the meat in the cauldron!”
Tom Thumb jumped up, lifted the cooked meat to the top and put the raw meat to the bottom. What can I say, the meat is boiling. And Tom Thumb sat down in his place. The cauldron is boiling, of course it is!
– “Take off your pot!” – the eldest Wayug angrily addresses his men. All seven of them jumped up to take off the cauldron, but Tom Thumb grabbed them with his hands, did not even let them move and stood up and alone took off the cauldron, which could not be taken off by seven of them.
He began to take out pieces of meat from the cauldron and throw them into the trough. He took out the pieces and said:
– “This is for dada!”
He took a sackful of these pieces, snatched a charcoal from the fire and ran away, while the Wayugs remained in a daze.
– “What was that creature?” – they said. “He was no bigger than a fist, how could he not even give us, the Wayugs, a chance to stand up?”
They had only one sister, and she kept her golden curls in a basket.
– “Shame on you! – You are giants, the seven of you, and you could not hold him back to be your brother!”
And Tom Thumb returned to his father and called out to him:
– “Dada, dada!”
But neither Dada, his father, nor anyone else was there. And the father returned to his village and said:
– “I've killed my boy!”
And he went back to the work with which he supported his life: he began to graze geese and calves of his fellow villagers.
Failing to find his father, Tom Thumb returned to the house of the Wayugs. They were pleased with him and he came to live with them. During the day the Wayugs hunted, and in the evening they returned with game. That's how they lived.
One day Tom Thumb looked through the door and saw something like a piece of papakha in the steppe:
– “What's that thing over there?” – he asked the Wayugs.
And the Wayugs answered:
– “There was a silver horse stall near our house. Someone stole it from the passerby and stuck it in the ground right there. We've been digging it up for a long time, but we can't get it out.”
Tom Thumb took the Wayugs with him and led them to the stable. He made each of them, one by one, try, one by one, his strength and pull the horse-barn out of the ground, but they could not do it.
Then he said:
– “Pull it together!”
But they could not pull it out with all of them.
So he went to the stable himself and pulled it, but it would not budge. He pulled it a second time, and it barely budged. Then he got angry, jumped on it and pulled it out in a flash. A hole was left in the place where the horsehair had been. He put his hand in it and pulled out a gold ring. He put the horse-barn on the backs of seven Wayugs, and they brought it home and put it in its old place.
The Wayugs loved him very much and looked after him carefully.
One day Tom Thumb announced to them:
– “I'm leaving you!”
– “Where are you going? Where will you find a better life? What are you missing?” – the Wayugs began to persuade him.
– “Dada suggested that I go to the Balc, so I will go there. The Wayugs did not want him to leave them, but there was nothing to be done.”
The sister of the Wayugs began to rebuke her brothers again:
– “Shame on you, my brothers, for not being able to stop him!”
And Tom Thumb went on his way and came upon a cemetery. The traveler is always hot, so Tom Thumb sat down in the shadow of a monument to rest and thought:
– “This dead man is obviously a recent arrival.”
At that moment, a dove flew in. Tom Thumb sat in the shadow of the monument and saw that the dove has turned into a beauty like the moon itself. She took out some chips, put them on the stone slab, scattered the grave earth, picked up the deceased young man from there, passed sticks over him, and he came to life.
And Tom Thumb is still watching, standing in the shadow of the monument.
The sun had already gone down. The girl ran her wands over the young man again, and he became dead again. She buried him again, gave the grave earth its former appearance, turned into a dove, soared and flew away.
Tom Thumb was left wondering: “If I tell anyone about such a miracle, who will believe it?… I'll stay here for the night and hide,” he decided, “Maybe the dove will come here tomorrow.”
He came closer to the place where the girl had put the sticks, and dug himself a hole to hide in, and how much space does Tom Thumb need?
When the sun came up, the dove flew back and turned into a girl. She put her sticks on the stone slab. Tom Thumb grabbed them and quickly hid.
The girl was frightened, turned back into a dove, soared and flew away. She left the dead man unburied. Tom Thumb ran his chopsticks over it and it came to life. He passed his wands over him a second time, the young man became dead again, and Tom Thumb buried him.
He left the cemetery and went on his way. He came to a large village. There were many people in it, but everyone was silent and did not speak to each other. At the edge of the village lived a sorceress, and God brought Tom Thumb right to her house. He stopped there as a guest and asked the sorceress:
– “What is this miracle: the village is large, there are many people in it, and yet not even the singing of a rooster can be heard?”
The sorceress answers:
– “The aldar's son has died, and the aldar is in mourning for him. No one can utter a sound.”
– “And if I bring his son back to life, how can the aldar reward me?”
– “That would be good!” – said the sorceress.
– “In that case go to him and ask him!”
The sorceress went to the house of the aldar and, presenting herself before her trusted man, said to him:
– “I have a guest”, – and he said: “If I revive the aldar's son, what can he reward me with?”
The latter reported this to the aldar. And the aldar ordered his cronies:
– “Go, break her ribs! My grief comes from my eyes with bloody tears!”
Those went to the sorceress and beat her so that she barely escaped from them. Beaten and maimed, she returned home to her guest and said to him:
– “Because of you I was beaten! May God never forgive you!”
– “Come on, let's go together!” – said Tom Thumb. They went to the aldar's house and asked the aldar's men to tell him that a man had come who could bring his son back to life.
The aldar went out to Tom Thumb and shouted at him:
– “Why are you playing jokes on me?”
– “It's no use shouting at me”, – Tom Thumb replied, You'd better tell me what you will reward me with if I bring your son back to life.
The aldar said:
– “In that case, let's go to the cemetery and bring him back to life!
The news of Tom Thumb's undertaking to bring back the aldar's son quickly spread around. The people followed them in droves to the cemetery. They took the dead man out of the grave and laid him on the ground. A boy came to him, held his sticks, and the son of the aldar came to life. With songs they returned back to the aldar's house. The aldar ceded his aldarhood to Tom Thumb, but he refused it.
– “I will go on to my balc.”
– “You are here aldar, where should you go?” – said the aldar.
But Tom Thumb refused to stay and went on his way. He went on and on and came to another village. Again the God brought him to the house of a sorceress. Near the outskirts of the village there was a river flowing like a sea; on its other bank there were completely naked people grazing like cattle.
– “What kind of people are these?” – he asked the sorceress. The sorceress answers:
– “The aldar ferried them to the other side of the river to have a feast on the occasion of the first of May*, but when he ferried them back, every time something capsized the boat and the people died. The ones you see now were afraid to cross by boat and stayed there. They have worn out their clothes and shoes, and now they have no food or clothes, and they graze naked on the grass.”
– “And if I bring them to this shore, what will the aldar reward me with?” The sorceress took him with her to the aldar, and Tom Thumb said to him:
– “If I carry your men to this shore, what will you reward me with?”
– “If you carry them, said the aldar, I will give you my daughter. Tom Thumb asked for a boat to be made so that all those who remained on the other side of the river could fit into it. Such a boat was made, he got into it and drove it to the other side of the river. There he put all the others in it and drove the boat back. In the middle of the river someone grabbed the boat, but not from the side where Tom Thumb was sitting, but from the other side, and wanted to overturn it. But Tom Thumb jumped to that side, and the boat straightened up. Then he quickly put his hand into the water and pulled out his shoe.”
Thus he got the aldar's men safely across to his own shore. After that he had become the dearest man in the world to the aldar. But Tom Thumb also told him that he must go on to the distant balc.
– “Where are you going?” – said the aldar. “You will be the aldar of this nation. What do you lack, what else do you seek?”
But Tom Thumb went on his way.
He found himself in a deserted steppe. He sees a tower in the middle of the steppe, as high as the sky. He reached the tower, went around it, but there was no entrance; he was surprised and said:
– “I would turn back, but who would believe me if I told them that there was a tower of such extraordinary height and that I could not enter it?”
He thought and thought, and then he came up with an idea:
“I'll put glue and sand on my hands and try to climb the tower!”
And so he did. He climbed to the top of the tower, looked inside and saw a round ladder. He climbed down this ladder into the tower and came upon a door.
I would open this door, thought Tom Thumb, but suddenly I would run into misfortune. Someone must live here. But if I don't open it and talk about it, who will believe me?
Finally he decided to open the door. He opened it and found himself in a large chamber; its floor was of green glass, its walls of mother-of-pearl, its ceiling shone like the morning star. Three beds in it, three tables in front of the beds, all three tables full of viands – drink, At each bed there was a basin with soap. “If I could eat all this food,” thought Tom Thumb, “something might happen.” At last he decided to try the food. He took a bite from each dish on each table and said to himself:
– “I must find out what kind of people live in this ward.”
He went to the far bed and hid behind it – how much does Tom Thumb need to hide himself so that he cannot be seen!
He listened and watched: a girl of such beauty came through the door that the ward became even more beautiful. She washed and ate, then lay down on her bed. Another girl came after her, and the ward became even more beautiful because of that girl's beauty. She, too, washed and ate, and then lay down on her bed.
Tom Thumb was watching on. And then the third girl appeared – there were three sisters – and the beautiful ward and those beautiful girls became even more beautiful because of the beauty of the younger sister.
She, too, washed and ate, and said to her sisters resentfully:
– “You come back before me, don't you have enough of your own food? Why do you touch more of my food?”
Then the second sister said:
– “And someone touched my food.”
– “And my food”, – said the elder sister.
But they did not know who was to blame, for there was no entrance to their tower for strangers. After a while, said the elder sister:
– “Can one find more unfortunate people born of the same mother than we are? All day long we do not see each other, and when we return to our house in the evening, we are silent, we do not speak.”
– “You are our elder sister, the two younger ones answer, – talk to us, and we will talk to you.”
– “Where do you go all day long?” – she asked.
– “Tell us first where you go, and then we will tell you.”
The elder sister told them where she went:
– “At the house of the seven giants there was a silver stable”, – she said. “I took it away and put it in the steppe. The giants used to come to it to pull it out and take it back, but I held on to it at its base. They were tormented and exhausted all day long, and I was dying with laughter; I never gave them a chance to pull her out. One day they all came out and tried to pull out the barn, but I held it back. Toward the end some little one pulled it and pulled it out. I was frightened by his scream, and my gold ring disappeared somewhere. I could only see that he was small, but I didn't know who it was. I wish I could see him again! The second sister said:– aldar's son passed away and they buried him. I flew there, dug him up and revived him, and spent the whole day with him in games and pleasures. In the evening I would kill him and bury him again. That's how I amused myself with him. But one day I put my sticks on a stone slab, and someone jumped on them and carried them away. I was frightened and flew away, I couldn't make out who it was, only noticed that it was a small one”. They turned to their little sister:
– “Well, now you tell me!”
The younger sister said:
– “On the first of May the aldar took his men to the other side of the great river for a feast. When they were coming back, I would overturn their boats: I would creep up from below, and they would perish in the middle of the river. When they would try to swim to escape, I would die laughing. Half the people stayed on the other side, for they were already afraid to get into the boat. They wore out their clothes, starved, and grazed naked in the field like cattle. But one day, when I was about to tip the boat, someone jumped towards me, my knees buckled. He wanted to grab me, and my shoe stayed in his hand. He was kind of small. Oh, I wish I could see him one more time!”
Then Tom Thumb, who was hiding behind the bunks, threw the ring, and it rolled on the floor of the room.
– “Here's my ring!” – The girl rushed to him.
All three began to look at the ring, and Tom Thumb threw away the sticks.
– “Oh, those are my sticks!” – the other sister pounced on them. While the sisters were looking at the sticks, Tom Thumb threw away his shoe.
– “Ah, there's my shoe!” – exclaimed the little sister. They were surprised:
– “Where did it come from when there is no access to our tower? Angel, patron spirit, who has come to us, the sisters begged, show yourself to us, for God has judged us to you!”
Then Tom Thumb came out from behind the bed. Only when he had time to raise his head did the sisters see him and all three of them said with one voice:
– “He's mine!”
Each of them called him her own.
Eventually the sisters calmed down. Tom Thumb came to live with them. He lived with them for a long time, and – may your favor be longlasting! – all three sisters became his wives.
But one day he told them:
– “I'm leaving!”
– “Where are you going?” – The sisters asked him. “Where will you find a better life? What do you lack?”
– “No, he said, I have left my old father and my old mother, and I must go and see them.”
As he stood his ground, the sisters told him:
– “In that case, we'll go with you!”
– “You can't stand the road! As I walked and it took me a long time to get here.”
– “We will not let you walk either”, – they replied.
– “What power do you have?” – wondered Tom Thumb.
Then the elder sister took out a felt whip, struck the wall of the ward, and the ward turned into a scooter-arb. So they set off on their journey.
Their way lay past the aldar whom he had helped to carry people across the river. How could the aldar not give Tom Thumb rich gifts!
They also passed another aldar from whom he had raised his son. He gave him even more gifts.
They also passed by the Wayugs. The Wayugs wanted to keep him in their house, but he said:
– “I cannot, I have left my old parents.”
The Wayugs put his sister with him.
He said goodbye to the Wayugs. He went on with four wives. That's it! He reached his father, who was still herding geese and calves at the outskirts. When his father saw Tom Thumb in his scooter and cried.
Tom Thumb stopped the cart and asked him:
– “Why are you crying, old man?”
– “How can I not cry?” – replied the old man. “As I had a son like you. He was a great mischief-maker, and I've left him because the villagers demanded it of me.”
– “And have you been herding geese and calves ever since?” – asked Tom Thumb.
– “I do”, – he replied.
– “Old man, sit beside me”, – said Tom Thumb.
The old man reluctantly sat down in the harness next to him. Then Tom Thumb ordered his wives:
– “Turn this old man into a young man! The daughters-in-law turned him into a young man, threw away his old clothes and replaced them with new ones.”
They came to the outskirts of the village and stopped their cart. The elder sister took out a felt whip, hit the harp with it, and it turned into an even more beautiful building than before.
Tom Thumb opened up to his father and asked the old man:
– “What happened to my mother?”
– “She has turned into a deep old woman beside our hearth out of sorrow for you.”
Tom Thumb took his elder wife with him and went to the old woman. She hit her with a felt whip, and the old woman turned into a young woman.
Tom Thumb took them to his new home. He gave the Wayug sister to his father as a second wife, then invited the gharganag (herald) and told him to notify the village:
– “Let every owner now take care of his geese and calves himself!”
They still live in their good home today.
Just as we have seen none of these things, so may we be spared all misfortunes and diseases!
A man and a hedgehog
A man once caught a hedgehog and put it in a castle. There the hedgehog was kept in complete contentment, cared for, and treated with courtesy.
So the hedgehog lived in the castle for a long time. And then they asked him:
– “Well, hedgehog, how are you feeling? Are you well? What does your heart desire?”
And the hedgehog answered:
– “I don't want anything, except one thing: bring me back under my bush!”
The man who says “thank you”
Once upon a time there lived a husband and wife. One day the husband said to his wife:
– “Well, I will go on a balc (journey)!”
So he set off on a long journey.
As he rode along the road, he saw fire coming from all sides and a snake crawling along the road. He did not get off his horse and threw the snake aside into the grass with a whip.
The snake begged him:
– “Don't throw me aside, save me, I am afraid of this fire!”
He picked up the snake and hid it behind his back.
They were traveling, traveling, and again the snake turned to him:
– “My soul, I'm very afraid of this fire. Hide me deeper, otherwise my soul will leave me in fear.”
– “And where else can I hide you?” – he asked.
– “Let me down your throat, and when we pass the fire, I will come out again.”
He lets the snake down his throat. So they drive on and on, and they pass the fire.
– “Now get out!” – he said to the snake. And the snake replied:
– “I've fooled a lot of people like you. I'm fine here. Go ahead and feed me as long as you live.”
The man's heart almost jumped out of his chest and he threw up.
“In that case”, – he thought. “I must find a good place to meet my death there.”
He rode up to a tree, took off his saddle, put it under the headboard and lay down under the tree to sleep. A cat came up to him and asked:
– “Why are you sleeping here?”
He told her about his business, about the snake not wanting to get out of his throat.
– “Don't be afraid!” – said the cat. “It's not a big deal. I'll make it come out of your throat.”
The cat left. In the forest she met a nightingale and said to him:
– “There's a snake that won't come out of a man's throat. You, nightingale, are skilled in the snake's tongue. Come and together we'll make it crawl out of there. You will sit on a tree branch above the man and speak in the serpent's tongue: "What wonderful flowers grow here and what incense they spread! Pity the man who sits in his hole in the dark in such fine weather.”
The nightingale did so. And the cat sat down under the man's chin and waited. At the nightingale's singing and speech, the snake stuck its head out of the man's throat. The cat grabbed the snake by the head and pulled it out of there.
The man was saved. He thanked the cat from the bottom of his heart and went on his way.
As he was driving along, he stopped at his brother's house. The brother received him very well and they had a conversation. At that time a cat came to the guest and laid down on the floor of his long cloak.
The twins talked for a long time, then the guest got up to go, but saw the sleeping cat on the floor of his cloak. So he sat down and, in order not to wake the cat, cut off with a dagger the part of the hem of his cloak on which the cat was sleeping.
The twin was unusually surprised and asked his guest:
– “Why did you do that?”
The guest told his brother about how he got rid of the snake and left.
And this man from that time began to pity the cats, fed them exquisitely, and kept them well.
Until they come, may God keep you healthy! Live long, all of you!
The friendship of man and cat will be preserved forever.
With these words my fairy tale ends.
Three brothers
Once upon a time there was a father and three sons. When the father died, he made a will to his sons:
– “I leave you no property”, – he said. “But I have one mare who grazes in the steppe and brings a foal every year. Guard her to capture the foal!”
The father is dead. The younger brothers tell the older one:
– “You, as the eldest, should go first and guard the mare.”
The eldest brother went to guard the mare. She had not yet foaled. He returned home empty-handed and turned to the middle brother:
– “And now it's your turn to guard the mare!”
The middle brother went to the steppe and came back empty-handed.
It was the younger brother's turn; he went to guard the mare. The mare was foaled. Then the giant appeared. The younger brother fought with the giant, grabbed the foal by the leg, and the giant would not let him go either, pulling him to his side. Each one wants to take the foal from the other. The giant got the colt; his younger brother tore off his leg, but the giant carried him and the three-legged one away. He began to nurture it, and the colt grew into such a three-legged horse, which made three circles around the edges of the sky a day.
The brothers remembered the time when the mare was to be foaled again in a year, and again they agreed to guard the mare. The elder brother went to guard the mare first; he slept somewhere and returned home. The middle brother went to guard the mare, slept somewhere and returned home, telling his brothers that he had seen no one.
The younger brother went to guard the mare. When it was time for her to foal, a seven-headed giant appeared. They fought with the younger brother; they fought for a long time and were both tired.
Then, having gathered his last strength, the younger brother said:
– “If I do not defeat him now, I shall never defeat him. He struck the giant to the ground, and he was knee-deep in the earth.”
The giant also threw him against the ground, and he too became knee-deep in the ground.
They continued to fight, and at last the giant became exhausted. Then the young hero grabbed a saber and cut off six of his heads. The giant was left with the last head, and he begged:
– “Don't cut off my last head, I will show you all my property and own it happily!”
The giant showed him all his fortune, and then the young hero cut off his seventh head. He brought its ears to show his brothers, and left the foal with its uterus to grow on mother's milk. After some time he went to check the foal and brought it with him into the house. He took the foal out and it became a horse that made seven circles in the sky during the day.
The young man himself also grew up; he trained the horse and began to ride it.
One day he decided:
– “I'll find my mother and then I'll bring back all the giant's possessions.”
And their mother was kidnapped by this same seven-headed giant. He saddled his young horse, tested him, frightened him a few times and said:
– “Now I am ready, and let it be what pleases God!”
He took food with him and set out on the road. In a certain village lived his father's ardhward, and he turned in to him; tying his horse to the stable, he went into the house and said:
– “Hello, my father's ardhward!”
– “I do not know you, who are you?” – asked the old man. He replied:
– “I am the son of your ardhward.”
– “Give me your hand, then I will recognize you”, – said the old man.
The young man gave him his hand, and the old man said:
– “Live long, long! Now I recognize you. What's your business, which way are you going?”
– “I'm going in search of my mother!” – answered the young man.
– “Have a good journey! You are going to a great ball, but it will be difficult for you to get your mother back. I know that giant, you can't handle him, you can't do anything to him.”
– “I have already dealt with him”, – replied the young man. The old man did not believe for a long time, but he convinced him.
– “In that case, good luck to you!” – said the old man.
The young man got on his horse. The old man asked him:
– “Spook your horse!”
The young man pulled up his horse, spooked it, jigged it to one side and the other, turned it around, and his horse jumped over the house.
Then the old man said to him:
– “All right, all right, live long!”
And at home the old man instructed the young man to prepare provisions for the road; the provisions were already ready, the old man ordered them to be brought out, the young man fastened them behind his back to his saddle, and the old man said:
– “Have a good journey, I won't detain you any longer!”
He said goodbye to the old man and went on his way.
He rode for a long time, and at last some houses appeared in the distance. The horse reached the houses quickly, for he did not gallop, but flew. The young man dismounted and tied the horse to the stable.
At the noise his mother came out to him and invited him in; he entered the room. She asked him:
– “What kind of angel are you, what kind of patron spirit are you? How did you get here, who are you? A bird couldn't even fly here!”
They didn't recognize each other yet. The woman said to him:
– “My husband has long been in the balc, soon he will return, and if he catches you, he will eat you.”
But the young man was safe, for he had killed the giant; he thought no more of it.
– “You don't look like you're from around here. Who are you, where are you from?” – he asked the woman.
The woman answered him:
– “Alas, good man! If I tell you about my ordeal, you will pity me too! I was the wife of a poor man, but this giant kidnapped me, and I have been living here ever since.”
The young man asked:
– “Who were your children?”
– “I had three boys”, – replied the woman. “My husband and three children stayed at home.”
Then the young man said to her:
– “According to your stories, you're my mother. I'm one of your three sons, the youngest. Now don't you ever think of the giant again, I killed him. If you don't believe me, I'll tell you about him in detail. The giant gave me a list of all your possessions.”
When he named the hidden riches of the giant, the mother believed him.
The young man said to her:
– Now I will go and gather all his possessions in one place, and you be ready to leave.
He gathered all the giant's goods in one place. His mother prepared provisions for the journey. He himself prepared two carts, loaded them with all the giant's goods, and they set out on the road.
When they reached the border of their homeland, his brothers, who had been notified in advance, rode out to meet him.
Evening came. The two older brothers decided among themselves:
– “If he comes with us, it will be a disgrace to us, so we must kill him.”
Their brother had an extraordinary checker, they took it, hung it with the blade inward at the entrance to the tent in which he was sleeping, and then raised a shout:
– “Alarm, our cattle are being stolen!”
The younger brother quickly jumped out of the tent, and the draught cut off both his legs at the knee. The brothers left him there, and put their mother in the harness, seized the giant's property and drove all the cattle away. They came home and threatened their mother:
– “If you open anything, we'll kill you!” – The younger brother recovered, but he was still a legless cripple. He continued to live in the same place, suffering great hardship. One day an armless man passed by and asked him:
– “What have you done? What happened to you? What are you doing here?”
The legless man told him everything that had happened to him:
– “There is no custom to love a better man than you; a better man than you is an enemy. That's what my two brothers did to me.”
– “What have you done? What happened to your hands?” – He asked the armless one in turn.
He also told him about his misfortunes:
– “And they did the same to me”, – he said. “We were three brothers, and I was the youngest. We slept in one place, and they cut off both my hands.”
The legless man said to him:
– “We'll be useful to each other. You have no arms and I have no legs. I'll sit on you, you carry me, and we'll live somehow.”
They began to live together. And one day they looked and saw a blind man walking through the forest and tearing off the tops of trees. They came up to him and asked him:
– “Who are you?”
– “We were three brothers”, – he said. “I have done nothing but good, and now they have gouged out my eyes.”
– “In that case you are our comrade too”, – they said, and all three of them came to the hut of the legless man.”
There they agreed: “The blind man will chase the animals in the forest in our direction, and the legless man will sit on the armless man and catch them, so we will support ourselves”.
One day they heard the sounds of fandura and songs. It turned out to be kindzhons. The son of a certain aldar had married the daughter of another aldar, and the kindzhons were escorting the bride from her father's house to the groom's house. The drunken men rode after the bride, jigging on their horses.
Then the legless man sat on the armless man, and they left the blind man in his place and went out to meet the kindzhons.
They left the blind man in his place and went out to meet the kinjhons. The legless one, sitting on the armless one, as if as a joke, transferred the bride to himself, and they began to carry her away slowly, but as if they could not go any faster.
The tipsy kindzhons turn to each other:
– “Hold them! What weirdos they are, what are they going to do?”
Meanwhile the comrades ran away with the bride faster and faster. The Kindzhons could not catch up with them and turned back.
They called the girl their sister. When they went hunting, they left her in a hut, fed her with pure bone marrow of a deer, and she cooked their food until their return.
The girl grew healthier and healthier.
How much time passed, no one knows, but suddenly the girl began to thin. The three companions were surprised:
– “What's wrong with her? Why is she thinning?”
They began to ask her why she was losing weight. And she was losing weight because in the absence of the three companions she was visited by a sorceress and intimidated:
– “Doom to your house! If you say anything to anyone, I'll eat you.”
And the girl was afraid to reveal the secret of why she was losing weight.
So the three companions decided to guard her. A legless man hid nearby and when the sorceress came to the girl again, he caught her. They forced the strongest of the three, the blind one, to hold the sorceress.
Then she begged them:
– “Don't kill me, and I'll help you!”
– “And how can you help us?” She said:
– “I'm going to turn every one of you back into the man you were.”
– “And how will you do that?” – they asked.
– “I will swallow you one by one, and when I throw you back, each of you will be as he was before.”
Then they said to the blind man:
– “You're stronger than us, hold her so she doesn't accidentally eat us.”
The healer swallowed the legless man first, but did not throw him back for a long time. The blind man said:
– “I'll kill you now!”
And she threw him back immediately, and he became as he was before.
Then she swallowed the armless man and threw him back – he too became as he was before.
Now the two of them began to hold the sorceress and say to the blind man:
– “Now she will swallow you, and we will be on our guard. She swallowed the blind man and threw him back as he was before.”
Then they killed the sorceress so that she would not hurt any of them, and they themselves decided that each would return home.
The girl said to them:
– “Hitherto I have lived with you as a sister, but now I can marry whichever of you wishes it.”
So they decided to marry her off to a legless man, for he had been unmarried before.
He sent the blind man and the armless man home; they left, and he and the girl also went home. Meeting people on the way who were traveling to work, he asked them:
– “What is the news in the villages?”
So he arrived home at the hour when people had gathered for the wake that his brothers had organized in his memory.
The youngest brother called on the crowd to listen to him.
– “I did not die”, – he said. “But my brothers did me wrong and made me legless.”
Then he took out an arrow of his bow and said:
– “Behold, I will let the arrow of the bow go, and if I have harbored any evil in my heart toward them or have done them any harm, let the arrow go back and stick into my head! But if they have done me treacherously, let the arrow go back, doubled, and let both arrows go into the heads of my two brothers!”
He let the arrow go. It came back doubled, and the arrows lodged in the heads of both brothers. Both of them were killed on the spot.
They had given their younger brother a false wake, but they needed that wake for themselves.
The younger brother was left to live with his mother and his wife, and they are still living today.
As we have seen nothing of all this, let neither misfortune nor disease ever visit us.
It is the turn of Hadzimat (Pinov) to tell the tale, so that I too may have a little rest.
