This was a long time ago, when the heat dried up the rivers and melted the beaks of birds.
At the mouth of the Kara-Khem there lived an orphan nicknamed Anchy-Kara. His parents died, leaving him three goats, a bow and a quiver of arrows. No matter how much Anchy-Kara went hunting, he always returned without prey. He had to slaughter three goats. When the goat meat ran out, the guy went hunting again, but did not meet a single animal. He sat down on a hillock under a gray cedar tree and listened. It seemed to him that the Kara-Khem river was singing a quiet song. He began to sing along with her, quietly at first, then louder and louder. Suddenly a branch crunched nearby. He looked around - and there were as many animals gathered around him as there were stars in the sky. They stand motionless, listening to the song. Anchy-Kara fell silent, grabbed his bow, but the animals were no longer there. The guy started spinning. Suddenly an old raven descended from the sky to the top of the cedar and spoke in a human voice:
- I listened to your song, and I felt sorry for you. Climb the steep Kara-Khaya ‘. There in my nest there are three beads - white, red and blue. Swallow them and you will understand the language of animals and birds.” The raven said this and flew away.
“If I understand the language of all animals and birds, then my hunt will be successful,” thought Anchy-Kara and went to the black rock. He climbed up for a long time. He fell several times, hung over the abyss, but finally climbed to the sharp peak and here, in a crevice, found a raven’s nest. I put my hand into it and felt three balls at the very bottom. He brought it to his eyes and saw: one bead is white, the other is red, the third is blue. He swallowed them and began to descend from Kara-Khai into the taiga.
He walks through the dense forest, listens, looks at everything. He noticed two white-tailed magpies on a branch of a thick larch, secretly approached them and was amazed: everything that the magpies were chattering about was now clear to him.
A young magpie told her older sister a story about a llama:
— Kara-Sug has a cave in the rock. In it the fat lama read sudur for three months. Then he got tired of being alone and starving, threw the sudur into the river and set off along the aals. And I follow him, either with a spoon or with a fishing line. I'm flying, looking out. I wonder what the learned lama will do next.
“I’m sure he’s gone stupid from the sudur,” said the old magpie, cleaning its wings with its beak.
- You're right. The lama entered the yurt, and there was no one there. Kurguldai is cooked only in a cauldron. Lama grabbed the kurguldai from the vat and twisted it into rings inside the cap. Then he pulled his hat down over his forehead and quickly walked away from the aal. The hot kurguldai burns his head, but the lama endures it, in a hurry to get away so that someone, who knows, doesn’t catch him. And when he finally took off his hat, his head turned out to be bald. All the hair fell out.
- There are stupid people, there are smart people. The lama is a fool,” the old magpie remarked thoughtfully.
“You’re right,” agreed the young magpie. “Now I’ll fly to the yellow taiga.” There five animals started an argument. Curious!— And she flew away.
Without thinking twice, Anchy-Kara headed into the yellow taiga. He wanted to know whether he would understand the language of animals.
Anchy-Kara entered the yellow taiga and in one of the clearings he saw a hare, Pallas's cat, argali, wild boar and fox. They argue and scream until they are hoarse. And the strange thing is that Anchy-Kara understands everything. The hare goes broke the most:
“If a person dares to appear in front of my slanted eyes, I will be the first to bend him, like your horns, argali.”
“No, I’ll grab him first with my claws and hit him with my tail,” the fox contradicts the hare. “And I’ll eat you.”
“I’ll scratch out his eyes before anyone else,” the Pallas’s cat does not yield.
“And I’ll hook him on my horns, you won’t even have time to move,” the argali repeats.
“Eh, all this is empty talk,” the boar enters into an argument. “Only I can release the spirit from a person with my fangs.”
Anchy-Kara laughed and stepped out from behind the trees into the clearing. The hare immediately jumped into the bushes - and was gone. The boar bared its fangs and rushed at Anchy-Kara. He was not taken aback, grabbed him by the ears, pressed him to the ground and said:
“Rather than fight with a person, it would be better to wander through the forests and get food from under the ground.”
With these words, Anchy-Kara threw the boar into a young spruce forest. Then, bending his head and putting his horns forward, the argali rushed at the hunter. Anchy-Kara grabbed him by the horns, twisted his neck, threw him up the mountain and shouted after him:
- Rather than compare strength with a man, it would be better for you to graze on the mountains, drink spring water and guard wild sheep!
Then the Pallas' cat pressed himself to the ground, spread his claws and jumped at Anchy-Kar, but he dodged, grabbed him by the tail, threw him into a tree and said, chuckling:
“Rather than jump on a person, you’d be better off sitting on a tree and looking out for mice.” Well, what do you say? - the hunter turned to the fox.
“I don’t like it when other people’s hands touch my fluffy tail,” the fox answered importantly and, waving her tail, walked away.
Satisfied with himself, Anchy-Kara went straight north. When the yellow taiga ended, he saw in front of him an aal, in the middle of which stood a yurt so large that even nine horses could not gallop it. Anchy-Kara went into a black yurt that stood on the outskirts. Its inhabitants, the old people, told him that Khan Darynz was in trouble. The daughter of Khan Nagyr-Chechek, emitting the light of the moon and the sun, began to go blind. The khan invited lamas and shamans from all distant and near lands, but they could not help the trouble. The khan promised to marry his daughter to the man who would cure her of her illness.
Then Anchy-Kara hurried to the khan's yurt, bowed to the khan and khansha, and sat aside. He looked around and saw Nagyr-Chechek lying on a red nine-layer tree. And she was so beautiful and sad that Anchy-Kara decided to help her at all costs. He stood up and addressed the khan:
- I am Anchy-Kara from Kara-Khem. Tell me, Da-rynza Khan, what kind of trouble befell your beautiful daughter?
The khan looked contemptuously at the guy in tattered clothes and was about to order the servants to drive him away with sticks, but then Nagyr-Chechek suddenly spoke up:
“I don’t see it, but I like the alien’s voice.” Tell him, father, about my illness.
Before the khan had time to open his mouth, a fat lama with a bald head stepped forward:
- Drive away this poor fellow, Khan. I, the all-seeing and all-powerful lama, will cure your daughter, or no one will cure her.
Anchy-Kara looked at the bald head of the lama and remembered the story of the magpie he had overheard. He guessed that in front of him was the same lama who stole Kurguldai.
- How all-seeing and all-powerful are you? You have to completely lose your conscience to climb into someone else's yurt and steal undercooked kurguldai. You have to completely lose your mind to put it on your head along with a hat. That's why your head is bald.
For the lama, Anchy-Kara’s words were like a thunderclap from a clear sky. He stood in the middle of the yurt with his mouth open, like an idol.
Everyone laughed, and the khan respectfully addressed Anchy-Kara:
-You know, you are not an ordinary person. Invisible worms are eating my daughter's eyes. If you cure me, I will give you Nagyr-Chechek as a wife.
- I'll try, Khan. “I’ll go and think about it,” Anchy-Kara answered and left the yurt.
He climbed Mount Bolchaytylyg, lay down on the ground among the bushes and began to wonder and think about how he could help poor Nagyr-Chechek. Suddenly, out of nowhere, two swans flew in and started a conversation among themselves.
“I’ve flown a lot around the world, but I’ve never seen such a beauty as Nagyr-Chechek,” says one swan. “It’s a pity that nothing can save her eyes.”
“No, there is one remedy,” another swan objects to him. “You need the juice of a blue flower with small leaves like stars to get into her eyes.” They grow only in the sky, on the Sumber-Ula mountain range.
- Let's fly and pick a flower.
“Although it is difficult, for the sake of the princess I am ready to fly into the skies.” But what are we going to do with the flowers? You won't fly into a yurt, will you?
“And we’ll throw the flowers into the smoke hole.” Who knows, maybe one of the people will think of treating Nagyr-Chechek’s eyes with them. We'll be back in the evening. Let's fly!
The swans flapped their wings and rose high into the sky.
Anchy-Kara was delighted. He jumped to his feet, waves his hand after the swans, smiles: “Fly, good birds! I will wait and wait for magical flowers from the sky.”
Anchy-Kara returned cheerfully to the Khan's yurt.
“Did Anchy-Kara come with good or bad news?” the khan asks him.
- With kind ones. I will cure your daughter.
Nagyr-Chechek heard his voice and cried with joy. She told him to come to her. She took his hand, held it in hers and did not let go. So Anchy-Kara sits next to the princess, not taking his eyes off her. And the bald lama whispers something in Khan’s ear. The khan frowns and glances sideways at the young hunter.
- Let's see how you treat my daughter. If you deceive me, in the evening I will cut off your hands along with the sleeves, and take off your head along with your hat,” Darynza Khan threatened.
“Order, Khan, to put out the fire,” Anchy-Kara asked. “The smoke is eating the patient’s eyes.”
The fire was put out. Everyone is waiting for Anchy-Kara to begin treating the princess. An hour passed, then another, and he still sat motionless. The day is already approaching evening. Anchy-Kara became worried - what if the swans were late or didn’t find the flowers? He listens: will the sound of swan wings be heard? And the princess is getting worse. Moaning in pain.
“Why don’t you treat my daughter, you scoundrel?” Darynza Khan shouted so loudly that the whole yurt shook.
- I'm waiting, Khan. The sun hasn't set yet. Give it time.
“As soon as the sun goes down, I will order you to be executed,” the khan threatened.
“You’ll know how to mock God’s servant,” muttered the bald lama, rubbing his hands with joy.
“Where are the swans? Will the princess go blind? Has my death come? But the sun is desirable and life is more valuable than gold...” Anchy-Kara thought in alarm.
The Khan stood up and opened the door. He sees that the sun has already touched the top of Bol-chaytylyg with a golden hoop, and finally illuminates the earth with red rays. The khan was about to give a sign to his servants - to seize and execute Ancha-Kara, but suddenly the sound of wings was heard. Large birds flew over the yurt.
Only Anchy-Kara noticed how two blue flowers fell through the chimney into the yurt. And while everyone was crowded at the door, looking after the birds, he managed to sprinkle the juice of blue flowers into Nagyr-Chechek’s eyes.
The princess raised her head and regained her sight. She saw in front of her a kind young man, slender as a fir, with eyes as black as ripe bird cherry.
“I see, I see!” Nagyr-Chechek cried and cried with joy. Soon she fell into a peaceful sleep.
“I cured your daughter, khan,” Anchy-Kara turned to Darynza Khan. “I want to know now: is the khan’s word true?” What I have to take, I will take. What you have to give, give.
The Khan was embarrassed. He doesn’t want to marry his daughter off to a common man. And the bald lama again whispers something in his ear.
“My word is true,” says the khan. “But you insulted the wise lama—a servant of God.” I'll put you in a tam. Atone for your sins there. If you get out of there, then come talk to me about marriage.
They threw Anchy-Kara into a deep ditch and piled a block of stone on top of it. Anchy-Kara sits at night, sits during the day - grieving, cursing the bald lama. Suddenly he hears mice squeaking in the corner.
“If this prisoner understood our language, we would have saved him.” They would dig an underground passage. There are thousands of us in this area,” says the black mouse.
“How can you find out whether he understands mouse language or not?” asked the gray mouse.
- Here's how. If he understands us, then let him clap his hands three times.
Anchy-Kara hastened to clap his hands three times, so loudly with joy that the mice instantly disappeared into their holes. “What have I done?” the guy reproaches himself. “I scared away the mice.” Now my hitherto undying hearth will go out!”
But not even an hour had passed before the pit was filled with mouse squeaks. Apparently, invisibly, mice gathered, and they all began to dig an underground hole.
Another day passed, another night passed. In the morning, a black mouse squeaked: “Come out, man who understands our language, to freedom.” She wagged her tail and disappeared.
Anchy-Kara emerged into the white light, shook himself off and went to the Khan's yurt. And there at this time Nagyr-Che-chek is interrogating his father, trying to find out the truth:
- Where is the good fellow who saved me? I want to see him.
“I gave him cattle from my cattle, I gave him goods from my goods, and he went to his village satisfied. “I didn’t even remember about you,” the khan answers her.
“Anchy-Kara is a bad person, you don’t even need to think about him, beautiful Nagyr-Chechek!” the bald lama echoes the khan.
“It’s not true!” cried the princess. “Anchy-Kara is a good person.” I saw it in my eyes. And I will follow him, wherever his path lies!
Then the door opened and Anchy-Kara entered the yurt. He was black from the earth, but Nagyr-Chechek recognized him and cried with joy.
Then Anchy-Kara tells her:
“Your father didn’t give me any cattle or goods.” He put me in a deep trench and blocked the entrance with a heavy stone. He broke his word - to give me you as my wife. And the bald lama is an evil adviser. Don’t believe him, and now he’s whispering something to him.
“Whatever intrigues they come up with, I will be your wife, Anchy-Kara,” said the princess. “Do you hear, father, what your only daughter, Nagyr-Chechek, says?”
“I hear, I hear,” the khan answers her. “But let your fiancé accomplish the feat first.” In the south, beyond the white taiga, a shulbus appeared in a rock near a black river. If it is not destroyed, a big war will break out in the world.
Anchy-Kara said goodbye to the princess, radiating the light of the moon and the sun, and went to Mount Bolchayty-lyg. He sat down on a stone and thought bitterly: how can he, on foot, get to the rock where the shulbus lives, how can he, who only has a bow, defeat such a monster?
Suddenly two swans descended from the sky and asked Anchy-Kar why he was depressed. The hunter told them about the khan’s machinations, and the swans began to console him:
- Don’t worry, Anchy-Kara. Because you saved our beloved Nagyr-Chechek from blindness, we will help you. A herd of motley stallions grazes on the northern slope of Arzayta Mountain. Among them is the lasso of a white-fronted black stallion. Sit on it and look for a gorge behind the yellow taiga where a ninety-foot snake lives. Order her to crawl into the shulbus’s lair and wrap herself around his body. And only then shoot an arrow into his only eye.
The hunter thanked the swans and went to the northern slope of Mount Arzayta. There, among a herd of motley horses, I saw a white-fronted black stallion, jumped on him and rushed like a whirlwind through the yellow taiga. In the gorge Anchy-Kara found a ninety-foot snake. Curled up in a ball, she basked in the sun. Anchy-Kara ordered her to crawl to the shulbus and wrap her around his body, and he galloped off through the white taiga. He hid at the Shulbus's lair near the black river and waited for the snake to crawl up.
Anchy-Kara waited for three days and three nights. Finally, when the sun rose and the stones became golden-colored, a snake crawled up. She wrapped a ring around the sleeping shulbus, as if she had encircled him with iron hoops, and he could neither move his arm nor step his foot. Then Anchy-Kara entered the cave, aimed his bow at the fiery eye of the shulbus and shot an arrow. There was strong thunder here. The hunter barely had time to jump out when the rock collapsed and filled up the cave.
Darynza Khan heard the thunder and guessed that it was Anchy-Kara who dealt with the shulbus. The khan got scared, drove the bald lama out of his aal and began to prepare for his daughter’s wedding.
When Anchy-Kara rode on a white-fronted black stallion to the Khan’s aal, he saw next to the Khan’s yurt another, white and big, big yurt. He entered it and saw: Nagyr-Chechek sitting on the carpet and smiling, and nearby there were huge painted chests with various goods.
“Here is our yurt,” said Nagyr-Chechek. -Are you happy, Anchy-Kara?
- I’m very glad. But I want to return to my native land, to the shores of my native Kara-Khem. Will you come with me?
“I’ll go,” Nagyr-Chechek answered without hesitation. Anchy-Kara and Nagyr-Chechek migrated to Kara-Khem and lived a peaceful life there.
[A Lama is a monk-priest of the Lamaists, adherents of a form of Buddhism.
Sudur is a prayer book, a sacred book.
Aal is a nomadic village consisting of several yurts.
Kurgulda is a sheep intestine stuffed with fat and meat.
Argali is a cloven-hoofed animal from the genus of sheep.
Kara-Khaya - Black Rock.
Albuk is a felt mat.
Tams are a specially dug pit for imprisoning those who have committed offenses before the khan.
Shulbus is an evil spirit, a monster.
Manul is a wild cat.]
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru