In ancient times, an old man and an old woman lived in the same village, and they had an only son, Abzalil. The old man and the old woman were very poor. They had no cattle or other wealth. Soon the old people died. Little Abzalil was left alone. All he got from his father was an armful of bast.
One day Abzalil took an armful of bast and went to a large lake. He plunged an armful of bast into the lake, wet it, made a washcloth and began to twist it: he wanted to twist a long rope. While he was twisting it, the owner of the lake came out of the water and asked:
- What are you doing, yeget?
Abzalil replied:
“But I’ll finish twisting the rope and drag the lake to my home.”
The owner of the lake got scared and said:
- Leave it alone, damn it! Don't touch the lake. I'll give you everything you want.
Abzalil thought. What should he ask from the mighty owner of water? And he decided to ask for what he had long wanted. But he wanted to get a good horse. And this place was famous for its good horses.
(According to legend, in the old days in Bashkiria there were wild horses that grazed near large lakes. Many legends have been preserved about these horses.)
“Give me the best horse, then I’ll leave the lake where it is,” said Abzalil.
- No, hey! I can't give you a horse. “If the horse leaves, I will have no glory,” said the owner of the lake.
- As you wish, it’s your business. “And I’ll drag away the lake,” Abzalil said and continued to twist the rope.
The owner of the lake became thoughtful. He thought a little and said to Abzalil:
- Eh, hey, if you’re such a hero and can steal my lake, let’s compete! If you win, I will grant your wish. We will run a race around the lake. If you overtake me, the victory is yours!
“Okay,” said Abzalil. “Only I have a younger brother in the cradle: if you overtake him, then I will compete with you.”
“Where is your younger brother?” asked the owner of the lake.
“My younger brother is sleeping in the bushes, go there, rustle some brushwood, and he’ll immediately run,” said Abzalil.
The owner of the lake went into the bushes, rustled brushwood, and a hare ran out. The owner of the lake rushed to run after him, but could not catch up with him.
The owner of the lake approached Abzalil and said:
- Well, okay, let's compete up to three times! Now we will fight.
Abzalil agreed. He said:
— I have a grandfather of eighty years old. If you knock him down, the lake will be yours. My grandfather is lying in a talnik. Go hit him with a stick, then he will fight you.
The owner of the lake went to the talnik and hit the sleeping grandfather with a stick. And it was a bear. An angry bear jumped up, grabbed the owner of the lake with his powerful paws and immediately knocked him down.
The owner of the lake barely escaped the bear's clutches. He ran to Abzalil and said:
- Your grandfather is strong! And I won’t even fight with you!
After this, the owner of the lake said to Abzalil:
- I have a sixty-yard piebald mare. Let's carry her around the lake on our shoulders.
“You carry it first, and then I’ll try,” said Abzalil.
The owner of the lake lifted a sixty-foot pinto mare onto his shoulders and carried her around the lake. Then he said to Abzalil:
- Well, yeget, now you enclose it.
Abzalil dropped the rope, walked up to the huge mare and said to the owner of the lake:
- I see you are not so strong. You lift her onto your shoulders, and I’ll carry her between my legs.
Abzalil mounted his horse and galloped around the lake.
The owner of the lake sees that now he will have to fulfill his promise.
He brought the best horse and gave it to Abzalil. The horse was a good one: savage, playful, restive, with hard hooves, shaggy bangs and a short mane. His pasterns were high, his thighs were like those of a hare, his chest was like that of a kite, his croup was narrow, his withers were high, his spine was like that of a pike, his ears were sharp, his eyes were copper, his cheeks were sunken, his chin was pointed.
Abzalil mounted the handsome Savras horse and galloped home.
Since then, they say, there are good horses in Abzalilovo, and all the horsemen there are brave fellows.
[Abzalilovo is the name of one of the regions of Bashkiria, which is famous for its good horses.]
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru