One evening, three brothers were sitting in their uras.
The eldest's name is Loshiya. The middle one has Lopchuo. And the younger brother’s name was Akchin-khondo. There was nothing they could do. The elder brother said:
- Let's sing songs, try out voices.
I'll start first. He started singing:
- Loshiya-ya! Shiya! Loshiya?
He sang like this and praised himself:
- I have a good voice. Now you sing,” he says to the middle one.
Middle chanted:
- Lopchuo! Chuo! Lopchuo!
He sang and said:
- And I sing well! Let's see how our youngest sings.
The younger one sang:
- Akchin-hondo! Hondo-hondo! Akchin!
Finished. Brothers say:
- Well, he can do it too. Now let's all sing together.
They started singing. Everyone sings their own. The song just doesn't work out. The elder became angry with the younger. Junior - on average. Middle - for both junior and senior:
- Why are you singing your names?! Sing mine. Then the song will come together.
- Your name doesn’t make a good song! “You have to sing mine!” the elder shouts.
- But I don’t even want to know your names! - the younger one scolds. - I know mine! — And he began to say: “Akchin-Akchin-Akchin-hondo!” Hondo-hondo-do-do-Akchin!
The middle brother and the elder brother attacked him. They began to beat him. And he doesn’t let them down.
The cauldron was overturned and the fire in the hearth was doused.
Rolling on the floor, the arrows were broken. The elder said:
“However, it’s bad to fight in uras.” Let's go outside!
The brothers went outside. They started fighting on the grass. The older one threw the younger one to the ground. The youngest lies on his back, face up. He saw the starry sky above him and shouted:
- Stop, brothers! Trouble is coming! -What's the problem? Where's the trouble? - the middle and eldest shouted.
The younger one jumped up and pointed his finger at the sky.
- Look, strangers have lit the dry talnik. They light their way with fire! They have come to war against us!
The brothers were scared.
- We must run away! There are many of them, there are few of us! They ran to the river, jumped into the shaving boat, and grabbed the oars. They row, like they sang a song in the uras: one back, the other forward, the third oars will lower, then raise - neither back, nor forward!
The shaving boat is spinning in place. Water splashes against the sides. It seems to the brothers that their boat is moving quickly.
The elder looked up and said:
- They're chasing!
They're rowing again. The middle one looked up and shouted:
- It’s as if they started to fall behind!
They also waved the oars. The younger one raised his head and said:
- Leave behind!
And it’s already dawn. In the gray sky the stars faded. The burning talnik rods in the hands of enemy soldiers are not visible.
“I know why they fell behind,” said the elder brother. “They are robbing our people!”
- Of course, they're robbing! - said the middle one.
- They will take away the cauldron, they will take away the skins! What to do? - the younger one is killed.
Suddenly the brothers see him standing on the bank of the river. Good, big cheers.
“That’s right, this is the dwelling of enemy soldiers,” says the elder.
- Whose it is! — the middle one answers. “Of course, them.”
“If they rob our home, we will ruin their home!” - the younger one shouted and jumped out of
boats.
Two others jumped out after him. With a scream they rushed to the enemy's housing.
The poles were broken and the skins were torn off. The cauldron was grabbed and taken into the boat. They are again rummaging around in the place where someone else’s urasa stood. The younger one found the bow. He picked him up and shouted:
- But this is my bow! I made it myself!
- It can’t be! “You’re talking nonsense,” the elder waved him off.
He said so and saw his bow.
“Listen,” he pushed the middle one, “it seems that Akchin-hondo is not completely stupid.” I also found my bow.
And the middle brother, named Lopchuo, holds the third bow in his hands, examines it, and shakes his head.
- Looks like the bows are ours. Maybe ours is ours too? They sorted out the skins that they threw in a heap - everything
found out.
- I killed this deer!
- This is me!
- And we got this bear skin from our father!
The brothers looked at each other. They asked each other:
- How did this happen? They rowed all night and arrived at their own destruction.
And the brothers decided: no other way, some shaman was jealous of their song and sent fog into their eyes and into their heads.
That's what they decided, that's what they thought. They didn’t think of one thing: this shaman has a name. Guess which one!
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru