It was a very long time ago. The people of the Namis clan went hunting in two boats. They left and did not return home, they got lost. They wandered around the sea for a long time, but could not land on the shore. They sent their comrades to the shore for fresh water, but they were eaten by the evil spirit amba. So he ate almost all the people; only two people remained on the boats, who continued to sail on the sea.
One day they saw a man on the shore and he was hanging with fish. Fearing the amba spirit, they did not moor to the shore. A man from the shore shouted:
- Moor to us, don’t be afraid, we are people! When those two people landed on the shore, they were allowed into the house. An old man and an old woman lived in the house. The old people fed them and gave them fresh water to drink. These people began to live with the elderly, but they missed home all the time.
The old man once asked them:
- What, do you want to go home?
After this, the old man often left home somewhere. A few days later he said:
— I made two boats and oars. You will go home on those boats. Lie down in them and don’t look who will take you. The boats will land where your wives live.
The old man brought those two men to the shore, put them in the boats one by one and covered them. Then he pushed the boats away from the shore. The men heard invisible people rowing noisily and talking loudly. After some time, the boats moored to the shore. The men took off their tires and saw that no one was there. We went ashore and recognized our native places. Children were playing on the shore. They called the children and asked:
-Whose will you be?
“Our fathers were lost long ago.” Then the men took off the covers from their thumbs, gave them to the children and said:
- Go to your mothers and tell them that your fathers have arrived.
The children ran home and told their mothers that they had seen men who identified themselves as their fathers. They didn't believe the mother. Then the children showed their fathers' covers. The women believed.
There was a lot of joy in these families.
The old man and the old woman who helped the men come home were good spirits of the sea, the owners of the fish.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru