A long time ago, they say, six Abokov brothers lived in the world. The five eldest were brave horsemen, and the sixth was meek and quiet. In addition to his six sons, their father also raised an adopted son - the orphaned son of one prince, a biy.
The older brothers were famous for their bravery: they fearlessly fought with the evil emegens (monsters that devour people), who haunted the people of that country: they stole cattle, devoured people and kept everyone in constant fear. And the brave brothers came out against them, took away the stolen goods and returned them to the people. But the Emegens were strong opponents. One by one they killed the five brothers. Only the younger brother survived - a modest boy, who for some reason was considered a fool, and the adopted son of the biy.
The old father soon died and could not survive such grief, and the biy’s son brought his wife into the house, and the young daughter-in-law hated the old man’s youngest son with fierce hatred.
– I can’t see him! “Take it wherever you want,” she tells her husband from morning to evening.
And so the husband and wife of the youngest were tied up and thrown into a deep hole, and the neighbors were told: “Our youngest is missing.” We don’t know where to look. The neighbors loved their younger brother for his kindness and friendliness. They looked for him for a long time, but could not find him. But this was not enough for the evil daughter-in-law. She thought and thought and forced her husband to pull the youngest out of the hole on a dark night and take him to the dense forest. The biy's son put him on a nag, he himself mounted a good horse and took him into such a dense forest where no human foot had gone before.
“Wait for me here, I’ll be back soon,” he told him, and he hit the horse with a whip - and he was gone.
How much time had passed, you never know, the biy’s son decided to go to the forest to see if the old man’s youngest son was still alive, or had the wolves already eaten him? He galloped into the very wilderness, to the very place where he left the youngest, and what does he see? The younger brother is sitting on the grass, alive and well, next to him lies a bag - artmak, and the nag is immediately grazing.
When the younger one saw the adopted child, he picked up the artmak and put it on the back of his horse. The horse staggered and fell.
“You see, my brother, what kind of horse you gave me.” This nag can't even handle an artmak. How can she carry me?
And then the youngest took out rich clothes, a saber and a dagger set in gold from the artmak, dressed, equipped himself and turned into a glorious horseman. After that, he took out a bell from the artmak, rang it, and a saddled blue horse of unprecedented beauty rushed towards him.
The foster child stood there, silent in surprise, and then lied:
- I came for you, let's go home.
“Well, brother, sit on your horse, and I’ll sit on mine,” says the younger one. - But which of us will be in front and which will be behind?
“You go first,” answered the foster child. And they set off. The youngest's horse rushed like fire, the adopted horse could barely keep up with him.
They rode like this for a long time, and every day they met herds of horses.
- Come on, brother, let's drive away this herd! - the biy’s son said as soon as he saw any herd.
“We can’t touch these horses.” I've been here, I know whose they are. Taking them away is like taking away a weak woman's corn tortilla. Meanwhile, they had already driven far, far away. The brothers finally met a green meadow, on which horses of unprecedented beauty were grazing.
“This herd is emegena, we can drive it away,” said the younger one.
He pulled out a lasso from his artmak and headed towards the herd.
Before they had time to get closer, a stallion broke out of the herd and galloped away. However, the horseman did not yawn: he threw a lasso and caught the stallion. He brought him to his brother and asked:
– What do you want: to drive a herd or lead a stallion?
“I’ll lead the stallion,” said the biy’s son.
- Well, lead the way. Hold on tight, or we'll get into trouble.
- I'll hold it.
The younger one gave his booty into the hands of his adopted son, and he drove off the herd. But he was unable to hold the stallion - he galloped away.
- What did you do? - says the younger one. “Now Emegen will fly here on this stallion!” This is his herd. Well, there's nothing to do. Just don't try to call me by name. Emegen should not know that I am the youngest of the Abokovs. And when we start fighting, you catch the stallion, yes. make sure you don't let me out again.
- Wallah, I won’t let you out now! - the Biysk son swore.
They gathered the herd and set off. Towards evening a large white cloud appeared in the distance.
- Look around and tell me what you see? - the youngest ordered the Biysk son.
- Either a cloud or fog is approaching us.
- Not a cloud or fog. This is the steam from the nostrils of the stallion you missed. I will fight Emegen, and in the meantime you catch the stallion.
As soon as he had time to say so, Emegen flew up to them.
“Which son of a dog dared to steal my herd?” - Emeghen shouted. “The Abokov brothers used to do this, but we beat them all.”
- Besides the Abokov brothers, aren’t there people who can ride a horse? “It was I who stole your herd,” the younger one answered.
– Are we going to fight or throw stones? - Emegen asked.
– If you rely on your strength, fight! They began to fight, and the younger Abokov easily knocked down the terrible emegen and cut him to death. And the biy’s son was so scared that he hid behind a stone and could not catch the stallion.
- Why were you procrastinating, brother? - the younger one said with annoyance. “Now the second emegen will ride on this stallion.” OK! This time, while I’m fighting, be sure to catch the stallion! Yes, remember: don’t call me by name.
And as soon as he had time to say this, a second emegen, more terrible and fiercer than the previous one, rushed up on that stallion. He saw the killed emegen and roared:
- Uh, dog tribe! Who dared to kill my brother and steal our herd? Once upon a time, the Abokovs gave us no peace. So we beat them all down.
- I killed your brother! I stole your herd! – the younger one answered.
– Are we going to fight or throw stones? - Emegen asked.
– If you rely on your own strength, fight! The fight with emegen was long. But still the horseman knocked him down and cut off his head. And the biy’s son was completely frightened, and out of fear he climbed a high tree, and again did not catch the stallion.
- Why did you make such a mistake, brother? – the younger one said angrily. - There is no help for me from you. Go home while you're still alive. Yes, remember: don’t even think about calling me by name! After all, now the third emegen will gallop here. Who knows - he will defeat me or I will defeat him? If he gains the upper hand, there will be no mercy for you either.
And the bey’s son went away in shame. But he only pretended to be returning home. I found a cave nearby, hid and waited for Emegen to gallop. And emegen is right there. And this was the most terrible of the three emegens, the most ferocious. When his adopted son saw him, he fell to the ground without memory. However, he soon woke up and began to spy on how the younger one fought with Emegen.
They fought for a long time, but the youngest managed to grab Emegen and hit him on the ground. And the biy’s son thought that Emegen had been killed and ran out shouting:
“Hey, youngest of the Abokovs, hit him hard!”
Emegen heard the name of the Abokovs, stood up, pulled his bow, and an arrow hit his younger brother. But he pulled out a saber and still managed to cut off Emegen’s filthy head.
“Well, brother, so you did what I was so afraid of,” said the horseman with a groan. “I asked you three times not to say my name.” Now mount my horse, let go of the reins and ride. The horse itself will take you where you need to go. Where he stops, they will come out to meet you. Don’t tell bad news, just say: The youngest of the Abokovs is ill and asks you to come.
The fosterling sat on the blue horse, let go of the reins, and the horse ran faster than the wind. No matter how long he rode, you never know, but the horse galloped up to a rich stone sakla, neighed loudly and began to beat with its hoof.
Then a beauty ran out onto the threshold, the more beautiful of whom the biy’s son had never seen. She asked him to enter the house:
- Be our guest! Tell me what do you need? How can we help you?
“The youngest of the Abokovs fell ill. Emegen pierced his chest with an arrow, and he probably died already.
Hearing this news, the beauty screamed and fell dead. Then a venerable old man with a white beard came out. He picked up the beauty and carried her into the house, and then returned and angrily asked:
- Hey, horseman, what kind of news did you bring to my house?
– The youngest of the Abokovs is wounded. Emegen pierced him with an arrow, and he probably already died.
- He’s stupid for having anything to do with you! - the old man grumbled.
He quickly saddled his horse and ordered:
- Show me the way!
Their horses flew like fire. They rushed to the battlefield and saw that the youngest of the Abokovs was already dying. The old man jumped down to the ground, pulled the arrow out of his chest with his teeth, bandaged the wound and put him on Emegen’s horse.
They drove the herd in front of them and returned to the old man’s house. They put the younger brother to bed, and the old man began skillfully healing him. And the biy’s son was received as a guest and treated to glory: the food that he ate today was no longer served the next day.
When the wounded man began to recover, the old man called his adopted son into the guest room. There were a lot of beautiful girls there. They came to greet the guest.
– Do you recognize the one among them who came out to meet you? - asked the old man.
“I would recognize her right away, but she’s not here.” She is better than all these beauties!
- Here she is! - said the old man. “She was the most beautiful of all my daughters, but you struck her with terrible news.” She fell completely ill and lost her beauty. Your action is unworthy of a man!
Then the old man took him to his storeroom, opened a chest full of gold, and ordered:
- Take as much as you can and leave! The adopted son filled two full pockets with gold, and he and his younger brother went home. The younger brother rides on an emegen horse and drives the herd in front of him.
On the way, the younger one said to his adopted son:
“The Emegens I killed killed my older brothers. All five died because of this herd.
As they began to approach their native village, the younger brother got off Emegen’s horse, took off his rich outfit and weapons, put on an old, torn Circassian coat and resumed his previous appearance.
“If anyone asks about me, be careful not to talk about the fact that I drove the herd and killed the Emegens,” he punished his adopted son.
They finally reached their village.
“The biy’s son found his younger brother and drove a herd of horses!” - people were happy.
But when the neighbors of his adopted son began to ask how he got such luck, he could not resist:
“It was he, the younger brother, who brought this herd.
When the adopted wife saw the younger one alive and unharmed, she again decided to kill him.
Meanwhile, the elders of the village gathered and came to the youngest of the Abokovs. They greeted him as an equal.
“Why,” they say, “son, were you pretending to be foolish and deceiving us sinners?”
- Honorable friends of my father! You all know that my older brothers were brave horsemen, heroes. Five were killed by the Emeghens. I was the only one left alive—I was a child at that time. If the Emeghens had heard that one of the Abokovs had survived, they would have killed me too. I pretended to be a fool, a fool, so that people could not say: “Another one from the family of Abokov heroes is alive!”
The old men praised the young man for his intelligence.
“And now,” he continued, “judge us, my father’s friends.” I don’t know what harm I did to our daughter-in-law, but she forced her husband to take me into the dense forest and throw me to the wolves. House, livestock, land - everything we have is mine by right. Needs are not known in our house. Why did she spare an extra crumb for me? Tell me in front of everyone, what did I do wrong to you? – the younger brother turned to his stepchild’s wife.
The woman stood silently. There was nothing to say to her. Then the younger brother took out a bell from his artmak, rang it, and an extraordinary horse rushed to his call. The horseman put his evil daughter-in-law facing the horse's tail and let him go into the steppe.
And then he distributed the Emegen horses to all the villagers and arranged a big feast. All the inhabitants of the village, young and old, feasted at that feast for several days and nights.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru