In former times there lived a shepherd boy. Every day he took rice from home and went to the river bank to feed the eel. He approached the water and called his friend like this:
Eel, eel, swim out!
I brought you rice
Drizzled with milk!
At these words, the eel crawled out of its hole, went up and ate the rice. Then he hid in his hole again.
The shepherd's father wondered why his son kept losing weight. He goes into the forest and takes food with him, but it’s no use! Here he says to his wife:
– Why has our son become so thin? He takes rice with him every morning. Who does he give it to?
The father began to monitor his son. One day he sees: a boy went with a bundle to the river. He walked and walked along the shore, stopped and began to say:
Eel, eel, swim out!
I brought you rice
Drizzled with milk!
The father returned home, came to his wife and said:
– Now I know why our son is losing weight. Every day he gives his rice to the river eel.
One day a shepherd boy drove his buffaloes to the top of a hill to graze. This time he left lunch at home - as his father ordered.
While he was away, the father took the rice and went to the river.
He went ashore and shouted:
Eel, eel,
Get out of the hole
I brought you rice.
The eel wanted to eat - he swam out. As soon as he started eating the rice, his father hit him with a dagger and cut him in half. Then he took the meat home, cooked it, ate half of it himself, and put the other half in his son’s rice.
The boy returned, drove the buffaloes into the stable, entered the house and asked:
-Where is my rice?
“On the shelf,” his father answers.
The son took the rice and saw that there was half an eel lying there. He did not eat it, took another rice from the pot and ran to the river bank. There he called for his friend for a long time, but the eel did not show up. The shepherd boy thought: “Maybe they put my eel in my rice?” Hanging his head, he went home, went up to the hut, took a wallet filled with beads from the wall, and began to take them out one by one. And when all the beads were in his fist, he said to his father:
- I'll go.
The boy leaves home, and his father follows him. As soon as his father catches up with him, he will throw a bead on the ground. The father immediately lags behind: he picks them up.
Finally the shepherd boy came to a large stone, stopped and said:
Sounding stone
Calling stone
Stone from a cave
Open up!
Let me in!
The stone opened, the boy jumped inside - as if he was not there. The father wanted to hold his son and grabbed him by the hair, but he broke free.
The father began to shout:
Sounding stone
Calling stone
Stone from a cave
Open up!
Bring back my son!
But the stone did not open, and the father had to return home. The next morning he came to the same place with a chisel and began to chisel the stone. He split it open and looked, but his son was not there. A couple of doves just flew out and shouted:
- Sepu, ku, ku! Sepu, ku, ku!
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru