This was in ancient times. There lived an old man and an old woman. They had three cows: two young, one old. They decided to sell the cow: she was not producing enough milk. The old man went to the fair. He chases a cow and sings songs. A guy rides towards him on a bay horse.
- Hello, dad!
- Hello, well done!
-Are you coming from afar?
- From the fair.
– What is the price of cows there?
“Cattle without horns are at a great price,” the guy answered and drove on.
Without thinking for a long time, the old man took out a knife and cut off the cow’s horns. He chases a cow and sings songs. The guy drove around the old man and again drove towards him.
- Hello, dad!
- Hello, well done!
-Where are you coming from?
- From the fair.
– What is the price of cows?
“Cattle without horns and ears are more valuable,” the guy answered and left.
Without thinking for long, the old man cut off the cow’s ears and drove her further. He chases a cow and sings songs. The guy disappeared behind a hillock, turned his horse and galloped around. A little later he drives up to the old man again.
- Hello, dad!
- Hello, well done!
-Where are you driving the cow?
- To the fair. Where are you from and where are you going?
- I'm coming from the fair.
– What is the price of cows there?
“Without horns, without ears and without a tail, cattle are at a great price,” the guy answered and drove on.
The old man cut off the cow's tail. He chases a cow and sings songs. The old man has reached the place and is waiting for buyers.
People look at the cow and chuckle.
-What are you looking at? - the old man tells them. - Buy it, such cattle are at a premium these days.
- Where did you get it, old man?
“Such a brute, dad, and no one needs it for nothing.” Drive your animal home, don't be embarrassed! - they shouted from the crowd.
No matter how much he stood with the cow at the fair, there was no buyer. He looked: the dog ran up to his cow, walked around it and sniffed everything.
“Maybe she wants to buy a cow, I need to ask her,” the old man thought and started to walk towards her.
The dog bared its teeth, growled and ran away. The old man got angry, killed the cow and threw it near the carts. He walked and walked around the fair, bought a gingerbread for a penny, ate it and went home. He goes and thinks: “And there is no money, and there is no cow, what will I tell my grandmother?” He thought and thought and came up with the idea: “I’ll go and visit my married daughter.”
The daughter was happy about her father’s arrival and prepared him a delicious bulmuk. The old man ate and ate and was so full that he could not breathe.
[Bulmuk is a national dish: flour porridge cooked with cream and milk.]
- Daughter, what is the name of this food?
- Bulmuk.
- This is food. I’ll go home and tell my old woman: let her cook.
In order not to forget this word, the old man repeated all the way: “Bulmuk, bulmuk.”
And he happened to cross a swampy gully, he fell into the mud, and the word “bulmuk” flew out of his head.
“Well,” he thought, “it turns out that I lost it in the beam.” - Well, crawl through the mud, look for the word “bulmuk”. At that time, two guys were crossing the beam.
- Dad, what are you looking for? – asked one of them.
- Daughter of marriageable age. I bought her a gold ring and dropped it here.
The guys climbed into the swamp and began searching with the old man. They climbed and climbed and found nothing.
“Now we can’t find the ring,” one of them said, “you see, the dirt is like bulmuk.”
- Yes, yes, bulmuk, bulmuk! – the old man shouted and hurried home.
The guys realized that the old man had simply deceived them, and well, beat him. They beat him up and went their way. The old man, holding his sore sides, remembered, remembered the word “bulmuk”, but never remembered.
He came home and said to the old woman:
- Grandma, cook this for me... What's it called?..
- Did you sell the cow?
- The wolves ate her. Cook this very... well... - Budan, or what? - asks the old woman.
[ Budan is a soup made from flour and a small piece of meat. ]
- No.
- What to cook?
The old man got angry and started beating her. A neighbor came into their tent and saw old men beating each other.
-Why are you fighting? – she asked. - Both of you have become like bulmuk.
When the old man heard the word “bulmuk” he was delighted.
- Cook, grandma, bulmuk! – he ordered angrily. She cooked him bulmuk. The old man ate so much that he got sick and died. Since then, the saying has come: “I ate bulmuk to death.”
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru