One Aldar had three daughters, for whom he built an iron tower on the top of the impregnable Saynag. The three girls, who were a miracle of beauty, did not need anything in their secluded home: at night the whiteness of their bodies replaced a candle, and God gave them food and drink as needed. When the girls reached the age of brides, a son was unexpectedly born to their old parents. The little Aldar son Soslanbek grew up, surrounded by the caresses of his parents, not knowing about the existence of three sisters imprisoned in the Saynag tower. And now the little Aldar has already become fluent in using a bow.
Once - it was in the twentieth year of his life - he saw the daughter of a witch widow walking on the water. The young man shot an arrow at her jugs and broke them. The girl, shedding tears, went to her mother and complained to her. She, having listened to her daughter, gave her other jugs and said:
“If this young man breaks your jugs again, then tell him: “If you were a real daredevil and a hero, then instead of offending me, a poor girl, you would have found your sisters.”
The girl again went to fetch water, and when Aldar’s son broke her jugs a second time, she told him her mother’s words. The young man, offended and surprised, did not say anything to the girl, but hurriedly headed to his parents’ house. Here he, with tears in his eyes and in great anger, appeared before his father and mother and asked them:
- Do I have sisters? If there are, then tell me where they are.
“May God not forgive the one who told you this,” his parents answered. “Go to the Saynag tower and there you will see your sisters.”
The next day, Aldar’s son went to the indicated place and there he actually saw his sisters. The girls were very happy to see him.
- Oh, how good it is that we have such a brother! - they exclaimed.
Then the sisters each began to prepare one outfit for their brother, trying to outdo each other in the art of sewing and cutting. The brother was only surprised at what was happening around him and did not believe his eyes. It seemed to him that he was in a dream and saw angels.
Finally, the brother said goodbye to his sisters and wanted to return home, but the girls surrounded him and began to ask:
“Tomorrow is a holiday for almost all the people in the world, so ask your parents to let us go to church.”
“Okay,” the brother told them and, returning home, he actually asked permission for them to go to church.
After a short time, he again found himself with the sisters and conveyed to them joyful words:
- Father and mother agreed to let you go to church, get ready!
Until midnight, the sisters dressed up to go to church, and from midnight until the morning they dressed up their brother.
In the morning, when the sun began to sparkle in the sky and people flocked to the call of the church bell, the three daughters of Aldar and their brother headed to the church. There were already a lot of people here, but the crowd, out of respect for the angelic pilgrims, respectfully parted and let them into the church.
Peaceful worship was solemnly performed. The humble people prayed earnestly... Suddenly, in the far part of the temple, among the last worshipers, three hitherto unseen creatures with human torsos and snake tails instead of legs appeared. Until the end of the service, they stood quietly and, apparently, focused all their attention on the three daughters of Aldar.
The service ended. The people reached out; Aldar’s daughters and their brother also headed there with a quiet, even step. As soon as they caught up with the three amazing creatures, deafening peals of thunder were heard, and the daring son of Aldar fainted. Meanwhile, the monsters grabbed the girls and disappeared with them. The Aldar son, having come to his senses, cried bitterly and went home to tell his parents the sad news:
“In the far part of the temple, near the exit,” he told his parents, “today stood three creatures with human bodies and snake tails, and if they didn’t kidnap my sisters, then I don’t know where else they could have gone.”
“You wanted to destroy your sisters at all costs and achieved this,” the old Aldar and his mother answered him. “Go now and disappear with them!”
There was nothing for the young but daring Soslanbek to do. He took a dashing horse from his father’s stable, put on his grandfather’s weapon and went in search of his sisters. He wandered for a long time through fields, forests and mountains and finally came to the bank of one large river. Here he got off his horse, entangled him with a tripod, and, putting the saddle under his head, lay down to rest and fell asleep in a deep, heroic sleep.
Meanwhile, a huge elephant emerged from the river. He swallowed the horse of the Aldar son and calmly began to walk around the young man. Meanwhile, the Aldar son, having slept for a whole day, looked around at the surroundings and, not seeing his horse, began to cry bitterly.
“Now I must die, my end has come!” - he exclaimed in despair.
Then the elephant came closer to him and said in a human voice:
- Don't cry, don't cry, my dear. Better saddle me and sit down.
Soslanbek obeyed and, having saddled the elephant, sat down on it. The elephant turned to him again:
“Hit me three times with the whip so that pieces bounce off my sides and calluses form on your hands.”
The young man fulfilled the elephant’s wish so well that he said:
- Okay, boy, you're good enough to be my rider!
“And you, elephant, can serve me as a horse,” answered the Aldar son.
The elephant rushed faster than an arrow. In a few moments they flew across vast fields. They rushed like this for a long time and finally saw a lonely house from a distance.
“Do you know who owns this house?” - the elephant asked the Aldar son.
“No, I don’t know,” answered the young man.
“This is the house of your younger sister’s husband,” said the elephant. “The closer we get to him, the more difficult the path will be.” First they will throw hot pieces of iron at us, then they will shower us with hot coal, but don’t lose heart, I will take you to this house.
They rushed further, and everything happened as the elephant said. We finally reached home. When they stood in front of the gate, the elephant admonished his rider:
- Stay with your brother-in-law and sister for only one hour, and then come back. If you do not return in an hour, I will leave you your horse, and you will never see me again.
The Aldar's son came to see his sister and son-in-law, who greeted him warmly. After sitting with them for about an hour and asking his sister about everything that happened to her, the young man began to say goodbye to them. His brother-in-law and sister were surprised and began to hold him:
- If you are looking for a bride for yourself, we will find her for you, if you are looking for wealth, then we will get that for you, just tell us! - the owners told him.
“I’m not looking for a bride or wealth, but I need to hurry,” answered the guest, as the elephant taught him.
Still, he was taken to a room hung with portraits of various beauties of the world.
“I know all these girls, but I don’t like any of them,” the young man answered, as the elephant taught him.
Finally, his sister asked him to carve his image on her door with a saber and gave him a ring with the words:
- If you are overpowered, throw this ring on the ground and say: “Now show all your strength!”
Having cut out his image, Soslanbek returned to the elephant.
“If you always listen to me like this,” said the elephant, “you will never make a mistake, and happiness will be your companion everywhere.”
They went further. We wandered for a long, long time through deserted places and finally again saw a lonely house among the vast fields.
“Here is the house of your middle sister and her husband,” said the elephant. “Before, when we approached the house of your younger sister, minor difficulties awaited us, but now there will be more of them.” But don’t lose heart, I’ll carry you through again.
The closer they came to the house, the more often they threw hot pieces of iron at them, doused them with boiling water and hot tar. All deadly means were used, but thanks to the elephant they reached their goal, and the Aldar’s son reached the house of his middle sister.
The elephant again warned the young man:
“And in this house they will force you to get married, they will offer you riches, but you do not agree to anything and do not stay there for more than an hour.”
The Aldar son gave his word to act on the elephant’s advice and kept it. No matter how his sister and brother-in-law asked him to marry, take their wealth and so on, he remained adamant. Only when saying goodbye to his sister did the young man accept a knife from her as a gift and carve his portrait on her door. The knife had the same supernatural power as the younger sister’s ring.
They also left the middle sister's house. They wandered around the fields and meadows for a long time again until they noticed a lonely house.
- Do you know who lives in this house? - the elephant asked the rider again.
“How can I know, when even in my dreams I never saw these places,” answered the Aldar son.
“Your older sister lives there with her husband,” said the elephant.
As the Aldar son approached the house on an elephant, the obstacles became more and more terrible. It was no longer people who worked here, but sorcerers and sorcerers. But the strength and courage of the elephant, the courage and bravery of the young hero overcame these obstacles. The Aldar son and the elephant reached the estate safe and sound.
At the elder sister's, the elephant allowed Aldar's son to sit for an hour and a half.
“And they,” the elephant told him, “will force you to marry, they will offer you all kinds of riches, but do not be enticed by anything.” They will show you portraits of wonderful beauties, but you say: “I know all these girls, but I don’t like any of them. If you really want me to choose a girlfriend of my heart, then show me the portrait that you keep in a separate room.”
Soslanbek did not ignore the elephant’s advice this time either. When, before saying goodbye, he asked his sister and brother-in-law to show him the portrait they kept separately, they refused for a long time, but then agreed.
In this room, in front of the famous portrait, there was a table, and on the table a glass full of water. As soon as the Aldar son looked into the treasured room and saw the wonderful image in the portrait, he was so excited that he fainted. He was sprinkled with water from a glass, but only a drop that fell into his mouth refreshed him and brought him to his senses.
“I assure you,” the elder sister said to her brother after he woke up, “that the girl depicted in the portrait will never be yours.” It was in vain that you risked looking at the portrait, subjecting yourself to such suffering.
“Whether she’s mine or not, I’ll still try my luck,” answered the young man.
The girl, like her two sisters, asked her brother to carve his image on her door and at the same time gave him a wallet.
“In difficult times, when stronger ones will overcome you, you will throw this thing to the ground and say: “Now show all your strength!”
Soslanbek mounted the elephant again and rode across the monotonous desert fields. From the long drive he was both bored and tired. Suddenly something like a black hill appeared before his eyes. The elephant knew what it was, and again asked his rider:
- Don’t you know what is in front of us?
“No, I don’t know,” Soslanbek answered.
“This is your sisters’ father-in-law Zaliag Kalm *,” said the elephant. “His sleep usually lasts the whole day and it would be good to catch him sleeping.”
When they arrived, Zaliag Kalm had not yet woken up. He wrapped three rings around a round iron fence with towers inside, pushed the end of his tail into a huge mouth and felt absolutely nothing.
“Pull out the saber, I’ll see if it’s sharp enough,” said the elephant.
The checker was pulled out, and the elephant ordered to hit the serpent with it. The blow was so strong and dexterous that the serpent broke into four parts. Then the elephant and the Aldar son jumped over the iron fence into the yard. The daughter of Zaliag Kalma, the beautiful Sahar, came out to meet them and said with a malicious smile:
- Where have you been so far, my beloved? Waiting for you, I have already begun to grow old.
The brave Soslanbek fainted at the sight of the beauty. When he came to his senses, Sahar invited him to the mansion and began to treat him to various dishes and black Ossetian beer.
Meanwhile, the elephant, having done everything he could for Soslanbek, said goodbye to the young hero and his future wife and went home. The Aldar son continued to feast, not noticing how he was being lured into a trap. Unbeknownst to him, the insidious Sugar poured a sleeping potion into his cup of beer. Having drunk beer to please the beauty, Soslan began to yawn. He was unable to overcome the drowsiness that was gripping his body and finally fell into a deep, long sleep.
In the seven towers of the beautiful Sugar, several dozen unfortunate victims languished - those who tried to take possession of the wonderful beauty. Our Soslanbek was demolished and imprisoned in the eighth tower, sleepy. When the young man woke up the next day and realized what had happened to him, despair took possession of him. But suddenly he remembered the gifts from his sisters.
Taking a ring from his pocket, a gift from his younger sister, and throwing it on the ground, to his surprise he noticed that horsemen were coming out of it one after another and standing in front of him, awaiting orders. The Aldar son did not keep himself waiting long and ordered them to break down the doors of the dungeon. The order was carried out, and the prisoner found himself free.
When Sahar saw the horsemen horseback riding in her yard, she immediately sent one of the servants to find out what had happened. She set off, but was beaten and cursed by the horsemen. Then Sahar herself went, and at the sight of her Soslanbek again fainted. The horsemen, who had previously been at his complete disposal, suddenly began to enter the ring put on his finger. Sahar noticed this and, taking advantage of the fact that al-dar’s son was lying unconscious, she took the ring off his finger and put it in her pocket.
When the Aldar’s son woke up after this, the charming Sahar again took him to her place and gave him a potion to drink during the treat. So he again found himself in the eighth tower, this time shackled with iron chains. No matter how difficult it was for him the next day to get a knife out of his pocket, a gift from his middle sister, he still managed to drop it out of his pocket onto the ground.
To his great joy, horsemen appeared in front of him. This time there were more of them than the first time. They freed him from iron shackles and prison. The dancing and horseback riding began again. Sugar was about to send one of the servants, but when she was insulted again, she appeared herself. The Aldar son could not stand the sight of her even now: he staggered and fell unconscious - so beautiful was the wonderful Sahar!
The horsemen began to enter one after another into the wonderful knife, and Sugar used it as well as the ring.
For the third time, the Aldar son found himself in an iron tower. And here he resorted to the help of a gift from his older sister. Throwing his wallet on the ground, he turned out to be the ruler not of simple horsemen-horsemen, but of strong heroes. They freely threw huge plane trees under the clouds and caught them. Thanks to these fellows, Soslanbek was freed from the iron tower for the third time.
I wanted to send Sugar and this time one of the servants. But none of them agreed to go to the diverging heroes. Then Sahar herself went down into the yard. The Aldar son turned out to be more prudent this time and did not leave the wonderful wallet with him, but hid it in advance in a crack in the iron tower. When he again fainted at the sight of the charming beauty, Sahar this time could not figure out where the heroes came from.
Soslanbek came to his senses, and Sahar addressed him cordially. Her speech no longer breathed deceit and deceit.
“Forgive me, dear Soslanbek, forgive me for the torment caused, I was deeply mistaken,” said the girl. “Now I really understand that God destined me to be yours, and I will no longer resist fate.”
Having said these words, she invited the Aldar son to the wedding feast and swore an oath to be faithful to him forever. So Soslanbek became the husband of the beautiful Sahar and, apparently, achieved his goal. But happiness was still far away.
The next morning, the beautiful Sahar gave Soslanbek the keys to the seven rooms of her mansion and said:
“You can only open six rooms, but keep the seventh locked all the time.” I will go east, to the Golden Lake, in which, according to custom, I must bathe and cleanse myself after the first wedding night. I'll try to return as soon as possible.
Aldar's son was left at home alone. Out of curiosity, he began to open the rooms one after another, and in them he found everything that the human soul could desire, useful and pleasant. Having examined six rooms, he began to think about the seventh. He was very interested in what could be there. Finally he couldn’t bear it anymore and opened the seventh room. A horse and a giant appeared before his eyes, tied with iron chains and chained to four walls. The giant's name was Khatag-Barag *, and on his horse he could run around the horizon three times a day.
“Eh, guy, guy, if you threw this bread into my mouth, and gave this armful of hay to my horse, then I would do you three services in case of need,” Khatag-Barag turned to So-slanbek.
Suspecting nothing, Soslanbek took the bread and threw it into the giant’s mouth, and gave an armful of hay to his horse. Both of them, as soon as they had refreshed themselves and felt a surge of strength, jerked their iron bonds and freed themselves. Having thanked Soslanbek, Khatag-Barag jumped on his horse and rushed after the beautiful Sugar to the shore of Golden Lake. He caught up with her just as she was fastening her dress to the last loop, and, grabbing it, sped off into the distance.
Soslanbek waited for a long time for the return of his young wife, but in vain: she did not appear. Then he left the house and went in search.
About six months passed, and Aldar’s son still did not find the beautiful Sahar. One day he accidentally walked through an unfamiliar village and suddenly heard someone calling his name. He looked around and recognized Sugar. She looked at him from the window of the second floor of the tower and called him to her. It turned out that this village belonged to Khatag-Barag, who was hunting at that time.
The son of Aldara and Sahar were happy with each other and decided to run away, although they knew that the giant they hated would catch up with them and again destroy the happiness for which they so strived.
Indeed, Khatag-Barag overtook them and regained Sahar.
Soslanbek tried again and again to kidnap Sahar, but all in vain.
After the third unsuccessful escape, Khatag-Barag said to So-slanbek:
“I promised to do you three favors when you freed me.” Now my promise is fulfilled: I spared you three times. Take care, don’t come across me in the future - then you won’t live in the world.
This threat did not bother Soslanbek, and he escaped with Sahar for the fourth time. Then Khatag-Barag cut the young man into pieces.
The ominous cry of the crows announced to the old Aldar the death of his son. He and his old wife began to mourn him, who died at the dawn of his days, and celebrate funerals for him; He began to cry about his inconsolable loneliness and repent of his unjust anger at his son. Soslanbek and his three sisters learned about the death from the images carved on their doors, which at the hour of Soslanbek’s death suddenly turned red and seemed to be drenched in blood.
With heavy grief in their hearts and tears, the sisters went in search of their brother. He lay on one plain and on his dead, cut-up body sat a raven with a crow, feeding on human meat. The sisters, seeing the corpse, rushed at the crows, but only caught the crow. In fury they grabbed him by the wings and wanted to tear him apart, but the mother raven begged:
- Don't kill, don't kill, my chick!
“Get us living water, and then we will spare him, but if we don’t get it, we will tear him to shreds.”
The raven flew away and an hour later returned with living water.
The sisters put the parts of their brother’s body together, sprinkled them with living water, and they grew together. It was as if Soslanbek woke up from a long sleep. Then the sisters told him about everything that had happened to him and began to reproach him for his frivolity:
“If you were smarter, you wouldn’t let happiness slip through your fingers and wouldn’t expose yourself to such a fate.” Now you have lost your wife and must come with us.
“I will either die or find my Sugar,” Soslanbek answered decisively.
Seeing that they could not keep their brother, the sisters went home, after giving him advice on how to once again try to achieve his goal. They told Soslanbek that he must get a horse, the half-brother of the horse Khatag-Barag. A horse like this could only be obtained from one sorceress. She forced those who wanted to get a horse to graze her wild herd for three days at once. When there was no loss, the shepherd received a horse, but if at least one horse from the herd disappeared, the shepherd lost his head.
Soslanbek went in search of the sorceress and on the way he felt very hungry. Suddenly he saw a wolf in front of him. The young man wanted to kill him in order to at least eat wolf meat, but the wolf began to ask him for mercy in a human voice.
The young man left the wolf and moved on. A fox meets him. He wanted to kill her, but spared her when she asked in a human voice to spare her and promised to do him a favor. He also released the wasp that he had caught and wanted to eat, in order to ease his torment at least a little.
Somehow Soslanbek reached the sorceress. In the evening she treated him as an honored guest, and in the morning, providing him with a pie smeared with a sleeping potion, she sent him to graze her herd. By noon, when he had eaten part of the pie and was fast asleep, the horses scattered in different directions. It was here that the wolf, who was spared by him on the way to the sorceress, rendered a service to the unfortunate herdsman. He called other wolves, and by evening they gathered the entire herd and drove it into the sorceress’s stables. On the second and third days, Soslanbek was also helped by a fox and a wasp, which he also spared on the way. So the Addar son fulfilled his service, and now all he had to do was get any horse for it and go in search of sweet Sugar.
On the fourth night, the mother of all the sorceress's horses was supposed to foal. But before that, the sorceress beat the mare. In retaliation for this, the mare told Soslanbek that that night she would give birth to a foal that would look worse than anyone in the herd, but would later surpass all the sorceress’s horses. The next morning, Soslanbek pointed to a nondescript foal born at night and said:
“This nag will bring me, as a mountain dweller, more benefit than other horses: I will carry firewood on it.”
The old woman cursed the guest in her heart, but could not do anything: the condition was inviolable.
“He can’t walk yet, so you’ll have to put him on your back,” said the old woman, releasing her guest with displeasure.
Soslanbek carried the foal on his shoulders. He had walked a long way and was completely exhausted. He threw his burden to the ground and said in his hearts:
- Is there a person more stupid than me? I could get a beautiful horse, and this is what I chose!
To this the foal answered him:
- Tell me, how long did you feed on your mother’s breast?
“Three years,” answered the Aldar son.
“Why are you reproaching me, since I haven’t lived another three days?” - said the foal and hit the ground with his hoof. It turned out to be a deep hole. “Go down into this hole for now,” the foal continued, “and wait for me there for three days and three nights.” I will go to Black Mountain, where my mother grazes, and when I feed on her breasts, I will return to you.
Having said these words, the foal instantly disappeared. Three days later he returned to Soslanbek:
“Now get into my left ear and come out of my right,” the foal said to his owner.
He fulfilled his will and, when he crawled out into his right ear, he turned into a stately hero in a golden robe and with excellent weapons.
After this, Soslanbek went to the village of Khatag-Baraga and again kidnapped his wife, the beautiful Sahar, from his house. Khatag-Barag learned about this and immediately wanted to set off in pursuit of the fugitives. But then his horse said:
“Your rival Soslanbek took out my same horse.” Now, to catch up with the beautiful Sugar, you must give me beer. Beer must be brewed from barley collected from fields plowed in one day by twelve plows. And this beer must be brewed until it fits in one ladle.
Khatag-Barag fulfilled his horse's wish and gave him such beer to drink. After that, he chased after Soslanbek. When Khatag-Baraga's horse saw the horse of the Aldar son, he shouted to him from afar:
“Why are you bothering my old bones?” Drop your burden, have mercy on me!
- My brother! My bones are still very thin, and my muscles are young and flaccid. Why do you tire them and do not allow them to grow and become stronger? Go back! - answered Soslanbek’s horse.
Meanwhile, Khatag-Barag rushed into the cloud so that, having hidden there for a while from the gaze of Soslanbek, he rose above him and struck him from above with a blow from his spear. But Soslanbek turned out to be more cunning. When Khatag-Barag descended from above in the cloud with the speed of lightning to hit his opponent, Soslanbek pulled aside. Khatag-Barag was below him, and then Soslanbek hit him with such force that he turned into black ash.
This was the last feat of the son of Aldar, the brave Soslanbek. He returned home to Aldar and his mother to console them in their old age with the news of their daughters and family happiness. Aldar celebrated the return of his son with a big feast, at which black Ossetian beer flowed like a river, and there was no end to the food.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru