One pshi (rich man) had a man who accepted the skins of killed animals from all hunters - subjects of the psha. One day he told Pshi that one of the hunters always gets the skins of strange animals.
“When he brings more skins, tell him to come to me,” Pshi ordered.
One day a hunter came to Pshi - he greeted him warmly.
“Come in, come in,” he said. “Sit down, I want you to tell me the most interesting thing that happened to you on the hunt.”
- What can happen to a simple hunter!
- Think and tell me, until you tell me, I won’t let you go! - said pshi.
The hunter thought and began his story:
“Every day at dawn a lioness comes out into a forest clearing, and with her a boy. They cross the clearing and enter the forest. I saw them many times, but did not dare to shoot - it was a pity to kill the boy and the lioness. This is the most interesting thing I've seen on a hunt.
“Then you catch this boy alive and bring him to me - if I don’t catch you, I’ll order you to be killed,” said Pshi.
“How will I catch him: if I run, I won’t catch him, but if I shoot, I’ll kill him,” answered the hunter.
“Catch it as you wish, but bring the boy to me alive,” Pshi ordered.
“Then you help me too.” The lioness always leaves the forest along the same road. It is necessary to cover the entire clearing with straw, leaving only the path along which it goes. You need to place people every three steps. I will sit near the road where the lioness will come out, and when she is in the clearing, I will shoot, and everyone will have to set fire to the straw at the same moment my shot is heard. If I can’t catch the boy this time, it means I’ll never do it.
Pshi ordered to do as the hunter said. They brought several carts of straw and set up an ambush. Hearing the hunter's shot, the Psha people had to set fire to the straw.
Before dawn, the lioness came out into the clearing. Following her, as always, was a boy. As soon as the lioness appeared in the clearing, the hunter fired, and the Psha people set fire to the straw. The lioness rushed in different directions, but, making sure that the fire was burning on all sides, she rushed into the flames and left. The boy was afraid of both fire and people. He began to rush around the clearing, and at that time he was caught.
They brought the lioness’s son to the village, made a cage for him and put him there. He was well fed, but was never released into the wild. The son of Psha met the son of the lioness - in the village they began to call him Aslanuko - and soon became friends. Every day he went to the cage and talked to the prisoner. Once Aslanuko said:
“You know that your father will do whatever you ask.” Let him allow me to be let out of the cage for a day - you and I will play well.
“Tell me, father, to let Aslanuko out of the cage for a day - we’ll play with him.” “In the evenings he will return to the cage,” said Psha’s son.
Pshi got angry and replied that the lioness’s son should not be let out of the cage - he could destroy everyone.
When the boy came to Aslanuko, he asked:
“Did you ask your father to let me out of the cage during the day?”
- I asked, but he replied that you could destroy everyone!
- Ask for more, cry, if you stand your ground, he will let me out.
The boy went to his father and said:
- Let Aslanuko out, we will play in the yard and won’t go anywhere!
And he cried bitterly. Then his father gave him the keys and said:
- Here, take the keys and let the lioness’s son out yourself.
The boy immediately ran to the cage, opened the lock and released Aslanuko. During the day they played in the yard, and in the evening the lioness’s son returned to his cage. This went on for quite some time.
“It’s not good that we only play like that.” If we had a five-pound weight, I would teach you a more interesting game. Tell your father, let him order the blacksmiths to make a five-pound weight for us,” Aslanuko once said.
The boy went to his father again and told him:
- Tell the blacksmiths to make a five-pound weight for us!
- Is it possible to play with such a weight, because it will kill you! We will have a lot of grief with this Aslanuko! - Pshi got angry.
But the boy insisted on his own, and Pshi ordered them to make a weight. When the five-pound weight was ready, the boys played with it, and Psha’s son soon began tossing it with one hand, like a feather.
“Now this weight is no longer suitable, let them make us a twenty-pound weight,” Aslanuko said then.
The son of Psha came again to his father and said to him:
- That weight is no longer suitable - it’s too small, they ordered a twenty-pound weight to be made for us.
Knowing that his son would not back down, Psha grumbled and ordered that such a weight be made for him. When the weight was ready, no one could bring it or bring it to the village. The boys went to the forge and brought the weight themselves and began to play with it.
One day Aslanuko threw a weight too far, and it smashed the fence that surrounded the five-acre yard.
“We won’t play with weights anymore,” said the lioness’s son after that. - Ask your father to allow us to leave the village - he won’t refuse you anything.
The son of Psha went to his father and asked him for permission to leave the village with the son of the lioness.
“This Aslanuko will cause us more grief.” What else did he come up with! - Pshi got angry. But his son persistently asked for permission, and he had to agree.
Friends began to travel to different regions. One day the son of the lioness said to the son of the psha:
- There lives a beautiful girl in the east - there is no more beautiful girl in this world. Many dzhigits wanted to marry her, but whoever went to her could not get there: no one managed to get past the inyzhi, and whoever passed the inyzhe could not get past the naguchitsa. And your father went for it many times, but could not get it. I'll marry you to her.
Psha's son agreed. Aslanuko took a twenty-pound weight, and they set off. When they reached the edge of the inizhs, they stopped by three inizh brothers. Both were delighted to see the guest.
“Aslanuko, how long have you been away from us,” they said and wanted to carry him into the house in their arms.
“Don’t worry about me, here is my thamata, do him honors, otherwise he can destroy the other race,” Aslanuko told them.
The foreigners picked up Psha's son and carried him into the house in their arms. For three days and three nights the friends feasted at the foreigners’ house, and on the fourth morning they set off on their journey. Soon they arrived at the four Inizh brothers.
“Oh Aslanuko, how long have you been away from us,” they said.
“Don’t worry about me, do honors to my thamata,” Aslanuko said to the inijs.
The foreigners picked up Psha's son and carried him into the house in their arms and showed them great honors. For three days and three nights the friends feasted at the foreigners’ house, and on the fourth morning they set out on the road. Soon they arrived to the seven Inizh brothers.
- Allah, Allah, where are you from, Aslanuko? “With these words the foreigners ran out to meet them.
“Don’t worry about me, do honors to my thamata,” Aslanuko said this time too.
The foreigners picked up Psha's son and carried him into the house in their arms. They were generously treated and given great honors. The friends stayed with the foreigners for three days and three nights, and on the fourth morning Aslanuko said:
“I’ll leave my thamatu with you.” If I find out that you have offended him in some way, I will not spare anyone from your family. I'll be back in three weeks.
Aslanuko set off on a journey and arrived in the land of Naguchitsy. The first one he met was the oldest naguchitsa - pshi naguchitsa. He quietly crept up to her and kissed her breast.
“You are my mother and father in this world and in the next,” said Aslanuko.
The old woman shouted:
- May God take away the eyes that did not see you, may the ears that did not hear you become deaf! There have been no little people in our region until now. Where did you come from?
Aslanuko told her about the purpose of his coming, and she invited him to the house. He stayed with Naguchitsa for ten days and nights.
“Now there’s nothing left to do—it’s clear that you’re destined to get the beauty, I’ll go myself and find out how this can be done.”
Having said this, the old woman went away and did not return for three days and three nights. She learned that the girl is vigilantly guarded by guards - only sometimes she is allowed out of the house, and at that moment she can be kidnapped.
Having learned about everything, the naguchitsa returned, and she and Aslanuko began preparing to kidnap the girl. Aslanuko did everything as the naguchitsa said and took the beauty away. He rested for three days at Naguchitsa’s and set off on the return journey.
Meanwhile, Psha's son lived with the foreigners. At first they looked after him well - they shaved his head and beard every day, fed him abundantly and tasty food. When the deadline for Aslanuko’s return passed, the foreigners changed their attitude towards the guest: at first they fed him poorly, and then they decided to kill him.
Aslanuko rode with the beauty, and he kept thinking about Psha’s son. He decided to warn the Inyzhe about his return and threw a twenty-pound weight so that it fell on the Inyzhe’s ground. When the weight fell, their houses began to tremble.
— Aslanuko is back! - the foreigners said. They quickly washed, shaved, fed Psha's son well, put new clothes on him and asked him not to tell Aslanuko that he had been wronged here.
When Aslanuko returned, the foreigners came out to meet him and carried his beautiful bride into the house in their arms.
They held a seven-day jega in honor of Aslanuko. After finishing the jagu, the friends set off on their way back. The owners accompanied them until they left the land of others.
When they arrived in their native village, they were given a seven-day feast here.
Psha lived happily with his young wife, and the son of the lioness was still his faithful friend.
Many years passed, and one day the son of Psha said to Aslanuko:
“You married me, you should marry too.”
- No, I'm not getting married. “If you want to do a good deed for me, let me go into the forest,” Aslanuko said.
- How can you say that, you are always free if you want!
- No, I had to sit in a cage all my life. You freed me, and I saved you from death. “If you allow me now, I will go into the forest, and we will never see each other,” said Aelanuko.
- If you want to leave, have a good trip! Take whatever you want from what we have.
“I don’t need anything,” said the lioness’s son. The friends said goodbye, and Aslanuko went into the forest.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru