In ancient times, on the banks of the Agidel, they say, there lived an old man and an old woman. The old man went hunting, and the old woman spun yarn and wove linen. And so they lived until
have reached a ripe old age. They realized one day: life had passed and had not given them a single child. They will die, and there will be no one who would remember them with a kind word.
The old man was very sad. Taking with him a bow and arrows, attaching an ax to his belt, he left his home. He walked and walked until he reached the foot of some mountain.
There he sat down to rest. I started to feel sleepy. And he had a dream - the owner of the mountain appeared and said:
- Hey, grandfather, why are you upset?
“How many years have I lived in the world,” said the old man, “but I have not made a single son.” When I die, my family will be transferred. That's why I'm grieving.
To this the owner of the mountain replies:
- Without someone's death, no one is born. If you have a son, you yourself will die.
The old man agreed. Then the owner of the mountain disappeared behind a stone, and the old man was deep in thought. Soon the stone he was leaning against began to tremble. The old man woke up and, grabbing an ax, hit the stone with all his might. From there, having split the mountain, a young man of gigantic build came out. The old man marveled. And he approached him and said, smiling:
- So I came to you as a son.
“Okay, son,” the old man rejoiced and hugged him. - I've been waiting for you all my life.
The son had a mighty stature and was handsome. His fingers were big like hands, his arms were like logs, his feet were like boats, his shoulders were broad like a meadow, and his body was as powerful as an oak tree.
“Son, take my weapon in this case,” said the old man and handed him a bow, arrows and an ax.
“Father, let your weapon remain with you,” answered the young man. “We’ll make something bigger for me.”
But the old man did not agree:
- No, son, this bow and ax were left to me from my grandfather. I'll give them to you. From now on they will be yours. Take it, you’ll shoot down birds with arrows and chop down forests with an axe.
He took the bow from the old man’s hands and, adjusting the arrow, touched the string. As soon as he pulled it back a little, the bow broke with a crash. From that crash, the mountain shook, stones fell, and the old man fell dead.
“Alp!..” the old man wanted to say something, but didn’t have time: he gave up the ghost.
At first the strongman was confused. But what to do, he buried his father with honor.
He sharpened the ax and, testing its sharpness, placed it on his palm, like a razor blade. Then he went deeper into the forest. There he cut down a tall oak tree and made a bow from it, planed an oak arrow, and equipped it with a sharp stone tip. He made a string from the veins of three bears and pulled it onto the bow. He armed himself and went to travel around the world.
Having crossed the Ural-Tau mountain, he took seven steps and stopped. There were spacious clearings where I walked. He sat down to rest. From the opposite mountain, his girlfriend, the daughter of the khan, noticed him. She lived in a large yurt, which could fit two schools of horses. And she herself was a beautiful hero. The girl called the stranger over and asked:
- What is your name, eget?
He was confused. I didn’t know that people had names.
- What is a name?
The girl smiled:
— How do people address you?
He replied:
— before his death, my father addressed me with the word “Alp.”
- It turns out that you are Alp-batyr. If you manage to defeat me in the fight, I will marry you.
Eget agreed and entered into single combat with her. They fought for seven days and seven nights. Finally, Alp Batyr defeated the powerful girl. Said:
- Well, beauty, keep your promise.
The girl replied:
- My soul has been with you for a long time. I am yours and you are mine. We measured our strength, now we will be together.
“First say your name, beauty,” said Alp.
- My name is Barkhyn.
- Barkhyn-hylu. Barkhyn-hylu. “Let the hylu rule the heart,” said Alp-batyr and hugged the girl.
The wedding was celebrated. They began to live together. They had seven sons, from whom, they say, seven Bashkir families descend. These seven clans settled on the spurs of the Ural Mountains. The seven glades where Alp Batyr walked became the place for their yaylyau.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru