As soon as Grandfather's mare Lali gave birth to a foal, it disappeared that same night. This is how the foals “Golden Horse” and “Silver Horse” disappeared.
When the foal "Black Horse" was about to appear, the grandfather called his grandson Badal and told him:
- Go to the stable and watch all night.
To stay awake, Badal cut his finger and sprinkled salt on the wound. Although his finger was bruised, the sleep was still stronger, and Badal fell asleep.
Suddenly the horse neighed. Badal woke up - a black shadow descended from the sky, grabbed the foal and dragged him up.
Badal pulled out his sword and struck. The shadow disappeared.
Dawn has arrived. Badal sees a claw the size of a plane tree lying at his feet.
Grandfather called Badal and his two older brothers and said:
— Our foals are being carried around by the Black Diva, go look for them. Kill the div and bring back all the stolen horses.
The brothers set off.
They drove far away. There were three roads in front of them. And each one had a stone. On the first stone it was written: “If you go, you will return,” on the second, “Either you will remain alive or not,” on the third, “You will not return at all.”
Badal said:
- Choose.
The older brother chose the path “If you go, you’ll come back,” the middle brother chose “Either you stay alive or not.”
Badal set off along the road - “You won’t come back at all.”
Day and night he rode.
Finally, I saw something shining in the distance.
Badal became interested and directed his horse in that direction. When he drove closer, he saw a tall castle. The walls of the castle were gilded and shone in the sun.
The castle gates were locked.
But Badal didn’t think for a minute. He quickly climbed over the wall and went down inside.
The castle had forty rooms.
Badal entered each of them. In one room there was gold, in another there was silver, in the third there were sweets: sugar, candy, halva, mesh, in the fourth there were a hundred varieties of all kinds of food, in the fifth there was Chinese porcelain, in the sixth there was silver dishes, in the seventh there was gold, in the eighth there were gold jewelry of unprecedented beauty, in the ninth there were diamonds, in the tenth there were rubies. In short, there was something in every room.
In one courtyard, thoroughbred horses were beating their hooves and neighing, in another, camels were shaking their bells, in the third, elephants were trampling, in the fourth... - but you can’t tell everything that Badal found in the castle.
Badal looked around everything and reached the luxurious chambers. There sat a girl of unprecedented beauty.
“A bird will fly here and its wings will burn, a man will come here and it will burn his legs,” said the girl. “What are you doing here, hey, child of man?” Because you weren’t afraid for your own life, you came here.
Badal bowed to the girl and said:
- Do not say: the first - with the hungry, the second - with the thirsty, the third - with the tired. I'm hungry, dying of thirst and fatigue.
The girl clapped her hands.
The servant brought pilaf cooked in a cauldron with seven ears on a golden platter, the meat of seven rams on a silver platter, and white flatbreads on a wooden platter. Badal ate pilaf in seven sips, meat in seven sips, bread in seven sips. I washed everything down with seven pots of tea and came to the girl.
“Oh beauty,” he said, “is there a piece of dry flatbread hidden somewhere in this house?”
The girl was surprised:
“Stupid, didn’t I order dinner for forty people?”
She got up and went to look. Seeing that Badal had eaten everything, the girl laughed.
- You are a hero with dishes and cauldrons, I’ll see what a hero you are with divas!
“Yeah, that’s why I’m looking for marvels!” said Badal. “Tell me, beauty, who are you?” What are you doing here in the abode of the divas?
- My name is Okkyz. I was stolen from my father and mother and brought here by divas.
Then a cold wind blew and a storm began. In the distance a wall of snow rose and covered the sky.
“What’s the matter?” Badal the hero asked the girl.
- The white diva is coming. Run, horseman, otherwise you will be lost. Badal ran out of the castle and hid under a bridge over a moat.
The ground shook. Hooves thundered. Everything around was shrouded and white with snow. It became cold, the leaves on the trees withered, the birds froze in flight. On a Silver Horse a terrible White Wonder rode into my city.
The silver horse just stepped on the bridge with its hooves - and stood rooted to the spot.
- Chu! “Choo!” the White Div urged the horse, but the Silver horse did not move.
Then Badal jumped out from under the bridge. The white diva cried:
-Who dared to block the path of the frost?
“Fire!” said Badal.
— Will you fight, grapple, or chop? - asked the div.
- Fight! - Badal replied.
They began to fight. Badal grabbed the White Div so tightly that his bones cracked. The hero lifted the White Diva into the air and hit the bridge with all his might. The boards broke, and the White Div was stuck among them, like a wedge in a split log.
Badal cut off the White Diva's head and threw it into the ditch.
Badal returned to the castle with the Silver Horse. Okkyz was very happy to see Badal safe and sound.
She brought it on a golden platter and placed it in front of Bad Al, the pilaf she had prepared for the White Diva.
Before the hero had time to eat the pilaf, the castle was suddenly obscured by a yellow shadow.
“The yellow diva is coming,” said the girl. The hero left the castle and again hid under the bridge.
The air heated up, the earth became hot like iron, the flames flared up, living creatures were fried with a crash.
Like the wind, the rushing golden horse galloped up to the bridge and stopped dead in its tracks...
Div roared.
-Who blocked the path of the fire?
“Water!” answered the hero.
- I’ll sprinkle fire, you’ll cook!
- I’ll fill it with water and it’ll go out!
- Then choose: shoot, chop or fight!
“I will fight!” said the hero.
The fight has begun. The yellow diva did not consider the horseman a dangerous opponent and thought to overcome and incinerate him in an instant, but Badal was strong, and the fight continued for a long time. The girl Okkyz became worried. Here, now, the Black Diva should return.
The girl ran out of the castle and climbed onto the bridge.
She poured a jug of cooled tea into Badal’s mouth and he immediately gained more strength.
Badal planted his feet firmly on the ground and, saying: “Oh, happiness!” the diva picked him up and threw him into the ditch.
The yellow diva slammed his head into the ground and only his legs remained sticking out.
Badal took the Golden Horse into the yard and went to thank the girl.
Everything around here went dark.
“What else happened?” asked the hero.
“The black diva is coming!” answered the girl. “Beware.”
Darkness descended on the earth, stars appeared in the sky.
The hero went out to the bridge again and looked - at the other end of the bridge, the eyes of the Black Diva were sparkling in the night, like a wolf’s. The Black Div rode astride a young Black horse.
The horse, sensing Badal, neighed joyfully and stopped dead in its tracks.
- Chu! May you perish!” urged the Black Horse
Black marvel.
Suddenly the Black Div saw Badal and shouted:
- Who are you that dare to stand in the path of darkness! - and attacked the horseman.
A fight ensued between them. The black diva was very strong, but the hero was not inferior to him.
The day passed, night came, night passed, day came again, and Badal still fought with the Black Div. Finally, Okkyz came and poured a bucket of millet at the feet of the Black Diva.
The black diva slipped and stretched out on the boards of the bridge.
The hero drew his sword and cut off the Black Diva's head.
At that same moment, the darkness dissipated... The sun shone brightly in the sky.
The hero returned to the castle.
“I’m leaving,” he told the girl.
- O flower of my garden, O nightingale of my flower garden, why do you want to leave? - asked the beauty.
Badal the hero bowed and said:
- I don’t know what’s wrong with my brothers.
The girl was saddened, but went to accompany Badal to the gate.
He mounted the Black horse, took the reins of the Golden and Silver horses, and disappeared in an instant.
Badal returned to the stone with the inscription: “Either you will live or not” and drove along this road.
Soon he arrived in the big city. It was market day.
Badal the hero approached a shop where boiled lamb heads were sold.
Entering the shop, he sees his middle brother, dirty and ragged, putting wood on the fireplace.
Badal the hero gave the owner of the shop one tenga and said:
“Cut one tenga worth of meat from a lamb’s head and send me to the teahouse opposite with your stoker.”
“Where will I send this dirty, filthy bastard?” I'd rather serve it myself.
“No,” objected Badal the hero, “send it with him.” When the middle brother brought one tenga worth of mutton
head, Badal the hero told him:
Badal-god-to
- Sit down and eat!
- Eat it yourself!
“Eh, you slow-witted one,” the hero objected, “didn’t I come to this city to eat a lamb’s head?”
Then the middle brother recognized Badal the hero and began to cry with joy.
Badal bought him a nice dress, put him on the Silver Horse, and they rode off.
The brothers returned to the stone “If you go, you come back” and drove along the road. They soon arrived in a big city.
The brothers turned into the first caravanserai they came across. The servant who was sweeping the yard took the reins of the horses. They look, and this is the older brother.
Badal put him on the Golden Horse and they rode home.
The horses rushed like the wind, and in the evening they arrived at the castle of the divas.
The girl received the brothers as dear guests.
“Now let’s rest,” Badal said after dinner, “and early in the morning we’ll hit the road again.”
At midnight the older brother woke up the middle one:
- Get up, I need some advice. If our brother tells everything to his father and... he himself will become the owner of all the riches of this castle, it is better for us to die than to endure such a shame.
“You’re right!” said the middle brother. They tied a sharp sword on the threshold and shouted:
- Hey, enemies are at the gate!
Badal the hero jumped up, rushed through the door and immediately fell.
The sword cut off both his legs.
Okkyz came running, burned cotton wool and, shedding tears, bandaged the hero’s wounds.
Meanwhile, the brothers were getting ready to go on the road. They loaded all the wealth onto camels.
Badal the hero saw this and said to the brothers:
- Alas, brothers, you did a dirty deed, and I stayed here. Just put your bow and arrows next to me.
“Well, let’s put it that way!” the treacherous brothers reluctantly agreed.
“I’ll stay with Badal,” said the girl Okkyz,
“No,” the brothers objected and took the beauty with them.
The hero was left alone in the castle.
Badal was a good shooter. He killed birds flying in the sky and prepared food for himself.
One day Badal crawled out of the castle. He sees an armless man chasing a gazelle.
Armless was so fleet-footed that he stayed close to the goitered gazelle all the time, but, of course, could not grab it. He didn't have any hands.
Badal the hero took aim and shot an arrow. Jeyran fell down.
Badal and the armless man became friends and began to live together. Once Badal the hero asked: .
-Who cut off your hands?
“I was a dashing horseman,” said the armless man, “no one could equal me in strength and courage.” One day the khan staged a kokburi - goat pulling. And I took the goat from the khan himself at full gallop. In anger, the khan ordered both my hands to be cut off.
Bada. and the armless man were now hunting together. When they went hunting, the armless man took the hero on his shoulders.
One day they found a blind young man in the steppe and took him with them.
“I had a beautiful bride,” said the blind man. “The khan learned about her beauty and decided to take the girl into his harem.” When the khan's warriors came for my bride, I grabbed a sword and attacked them. Alas, there were many of them, and they prevailed. Khan ordered to blind me.
Then Badal the hero and his new friends decided to free the blind man’s bride. They waited for an opportunity for many days and finally made their way into the palace and kidnapped her from the khan's harem.
The Khan's policemen chased after them, but when they reached the stone "You won't return at all", they chickened out and returned back.
The girl began to live in the castle, look after the household, and prepare food for Badal and his friends.
Days passed.
When the horsemen went hunting, the girl was left alone. One day a strong wind rose and extinguished the fire in the hearth.
The girl was very upset that when the horsemen arrived
lunch won't be ready.
She climbed the tower and saw smoke in the distance.
The girl went in that direction and reached the cave. He looks, an old, old old woman sits and roasts corn kernels.
“Salom, grandma,” said the girl.
“If it weren’t for your greeting, I would have swallowed you!” - said the old woman.
This old woman was a terrible witch - Almauz kampyr.
“What do you want, granddaughter?” asked Almauz Kampyr.
-Give me some hot coals.
“Take it!” said the old woman, giving the girl a scoop full of coals, and in addition poured roasted corn kernels into her hem.
The girl was in such a hurry to get to the castle that she scattered a lot of grains along the way.
The girl ran to the castle, quickly lit a fire in the hearth, and the pilaf was ready when the horsemen arrived.
The next day, when the horsemen went hunting again, Almauz kampyr found her way through the scattered grains
to the castle.
The girl politely greeted the old witch.
- Salom, grandma, come in.
- If it weren’t for your “lard!”, I would have swallowed you. Comb my head!
Almauz kampyr put her head on the girl’s lap, and while she was combing her hair, she began to suck blood from her.
Before the horsemen returned, the witch left, warning:
“If you even mention that I was, I’ll swallow you.”
Every day Almauz kampyr sucked the girl’s blood and tortured her.
Finally, Badal the hero noticed that the girl had become pale, like death.
“What happened to you, sister?” he asked. The girl replied:
- Nothing happened.
“No,” said Badal the hero, “if nothing happened, you should have become fat and red from the goitered gazelle meat.” If someone offended you, tell me.
But the girl never said anything.
- There is something here, friends! “Today you are on guard,” Badal the hero said to the blind man. “No matter what happens, you will tell us.”
They left the blind man in the castle.
At ordinary times, Almauz the kampyr hobbled:
“Hey, it smells like human flesh!” she said and tied the door latch with a strand of her hair.
When the blind man heard that the girl was crying and wanted to go into the room, the door was closed and he did not recognize anything.
The next morning Badal the hero decided to keep an eye on it himself and stayed in the castle.
As soon as Almauz Campyr arrived, he crawled to the door and began to listen.
“Salom, grandma!” said the girl. The old woman, as usual, began:
“If it weren’t for your lard, I would have swallowed you.” But then Badal the hero reached through the door and grabbed the witch by the hair and twisted it.
“Aren’t you a Badal hero, what a misfortune,” the witch screeched.
“Yes, I’m the one!” answered Badal the hero. “Well, say your last word!” Now I'll cut off your head.
- Don’t kill, please don’t kill! I'll give you back your legs, just don't kill me!
Then the hero’s friends returned.
- How will you return the yoga to me? - asked Badal the hero.
“I will swallow you and throw you back, and you will become the same as you were.”
“Okay, you’ll stay alive, but you’ll start with a blind man,” said Badal the hero. Just look at my sword. If you decide to cheat, that's the end for you.
The witch swallowed the blind man and returned him sighted with sharp eyes, swallowed the armless man and returned him with arms.
Now it’s Badal the hero’s turn.
- Be careful, pick up swords; when it swallows me and doesn’t want to return it, cut it up and get me!” said Badal the hero.
His friends drew their swords. The witch swallowed the hero.
__ Give it back! - said the horsemen.
The witch sat with her eyes bulging. - We'll kill! - said the horsemen.
- Ha, ha! Well, okay, Badal the hero will also die with me,” Almauz kampyr laughed.
Then the horsemen chopped the witch into pieces, but did not find the hero,
The horsemen were very upset.
Then the sparrow jumped onto the windowsill and chirped:
- Chir-chir-chir-chir! Little finger! The girl said:
- Look at the little finger.
They cut the witch’s little finger and Badal the Hero jumped out alive and with healthy legs. Out of joy, he stamped his foot on the floor and danced.
Suddenly Almauz Kampyr’s head looks and rolls towards the exit and mutters:
- I’ll ask you more, I’ll ask you more! Three horsemen rushed for the head and chopped it into pieces.
small pieces.
Here the witch Almauz kampyr came to an end.
The four horsemen and the girl set off on their journey. First they stopped at the girl's house.
The girl’s parents, having found no trace of her, considered her dead and already wanted to declare mourning. With the arrival of friends, mourning turned into a wedding. The girl was married to a former blind man.
They feasted for forty days.
Then we went to the house of the former armless man and feasted there.
Finally, Badal the hero went home.
On the day when he returned to his native place, his grandfather gave a feast on the occasion of the wedding of his eldest son, who took Okkyz as his wife.
Poor Okkyz did not want to get married and kept thinking about Badal the hero.
The hero entered the house.
My beloved! - Okkyz exclaimed and threw herself into the arms of the hero.
For the hero and Okkyz it was a day of great joy, but for the brothers it was a day of misfortune.
Badal the hero brought his brothers to their grandfather, stood them in front of him and said:
- Judge us.
“Speak,” said the grandfather.
Then Badal the hero turned to his elder brother.
“Did I, a dirty, ragged man, sweep, remove manure and tie up the horses of travelers in the caravanserai?” And did you help me out?
- Woe to me! - said the older brother.
Then Badal the hero turned to his middle brother.
“Did I, stinking, filthy, add firewood to the fireplace of a merchant of boiled sheep’s heads?” And are you
helped me out?
“Woe is me!” said the middle brother.
“And you cut off my legs in gratitude and threw me alone to certain death.”
Badal the hero said this, turned and left
rooms.
Then the grandfather kicked the treacherous brothers out of the house.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru