A peasant named Azhgerey-ipa Kuchuk was sewing. He was not afraid of anyone and not only knew how to stand up for himself, but was always ready to protect the weak and punish the villain.
One day, Prince Shabat Marshan the Golden, who was so called for his wealth, went to Kabarda to visit his relative Ahan-ipa. The prince was accompanied by a hundred armed noble horsemen.
For a whole week, Shabbat and his retinue lived with Ahan-ip, but he did not even think of letting them go. Ahan-ipa loved to keep guests at his place. The Shabbat people began to get bored and wandered around the yard out of idleness.
One evening, an unknown rider with a gun on his back rode into Ahan-ip’s courtyard on a beautiful horse. He greeted the guests and, calling the owner aside, talked to him about something and headed towards the gate. Before he had time to leave the yard, one of Shabbat’s retinue shouted after him:
“It would be nice to meet such a rider on the road and take away his horse and gun!”
The next day Ahap-ipa dismissed the guests. Prince Shabbat and his retinue returned home singing and shouting with joy. The people of Shabbat led a hundred horses on the reins - a gift from Ahan-ip. Suddenly a stranger cut their way, the same one they saw at Ahan-ip, and shouted:
- Here is the horse and gun that you liked so much! Well, try to take them away!
From such a sudden shout, Shabat himself and his companions were confused, and the stranger, like a hawk, rushed at the horsemen who had stopped in confusion, threw them from their saddles to the ground and stole all the horses.
Prince Shabat and his people were ready to fall into the ground out of shame. Returning home on foot or to Ahan-ipa was a terrible shame. Moreover, they still did not know the name of the one who was hurrying them:
“If only we knew who he is, perhaps we could find at least some justification for us,” said the prince.
Then one of the retinue advised;
- Send someone to Ahan-ipa. Let the messenger tell him: “Somewhere here, Prince Shabat has lost his wallet. The loss is not so important, but the prince knows that if you find him, you will worry. So he sent me to tell you about this.” The owners will start looking and will not find anything. Then let the messenger say: “It’s no problem! Probably the horseman who was here yesterday took the wallet. We saw him pick up something from the ground. Who was that man?
Everyone liked this advice, and Shabbat said to the proposer:
- Since you have an idea, go for it!
The messenger appeared to Ahai-ipa and explained the reason for his return. The wallet, of course, could not be found anywhere.
- It’s okay, it’s okay, it’s not a problem. Our prince will not become poorer because of this,” the messenger said then. “Besides, yesterday we noticed how the rider who stopped by to see you bent down and picked up something.” Maybe he was the one who took the wallet.
- Oh! It was Azhgerey-ipa Kuchuk,” Akhan-ipa said with a sigh. “Don’t tell anyone about what you saw, otherwise it might get to him, he’ll get angry and then he’ll deal with both you and me!” It's better not to mess with him!..
The messenger returned and told the prince about everything.
“Thank you,” said Shabbat. – In fact, it’s better not to collide with Kuchuk. He has already disgraced many princes, and he has more friends than us princes. After all, I was afraid that someone else was playing a joke on us!
On the way, they were caught in a downpour, and Shabbat returned home soaked and covered in mud. The people learned about everything that happened, and from then on the Golden Shabbat began to be called Dirt Shabbat.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru