In one large ulus lived a greedy and evil bai named Khara Khan. He imposed tribute on the people and ruined them. At the other end of this ulus, in a poor yurt, lived an orphan hunter. He had nothing except a bow with which he killed animals, and a game horse on which he rode to hunt. In February - the month of "reserve" - the fur hunter got a lot of fur, because he was strong and dexterous.
He disliked the hunter, pressed him, took all the prey. The more successful the hunt, the greater the tribute Khara Khan imposed. Time passed. It so happened that the hunter was unable to pay the tribute. Then the bai took the game horse from him. It became completely difficult to live.
There was a daughter of poor old people in the ulus. The hunter loved her very much, and she loved him. They decided to get married, leave the ulus and live in the taiga. And so they did.
They set up the yurt in a remote place. The hunter kills animals and birds, carries them home, and lives in peace. The hunter's wife was very beautiful.
One day the son of the bai, Khara-Pidekei, went to the taiga. I came across a hunter's house. The bai's son drove up to the yurt and threw an arrow into the chimney. He waited a little and said:
- Bring me the arrow.
“Come in and get it,” answered the hunter’s wife in the yurt. The owner himself was hunting.
Khara-Pidekei got off his horse, entered the yurt to get the arrow and stopped: he couldn’t take his eyes off the woman. Then he took the arrow and went out.
The Bai's son mounted his horse and forgot about hunting. On the way to the ulus, I scolded myself: where my eyes were before, I missed such a girl!
At home, Hara-Pidekei said to his father:
- Take the hunter's wife for me.
“We took the horse from him for yasak, but how can we take his wife?” answered Khara Khan.
- You are the boss, you are the boss, take it as you want.
The hunter returned home in the evening. His wife didn’t tell him anything about the meeting with the Bai’s son. She accepted the spoils, fed her husband and went to bed. The next morning Khara Khan’s servant comes to the yurt and says:
“Bai ordered me to come to him.”
“Okay, I’ll come,” answered the hunter. The servant left, and the hunter asked his wife:
- Why is Khara Khan calling me?
“Go and you’ll get away,” said the wife.
A hunter came to the ulus. He opened the door to the Bai yurt, said hello, crossed the threshold, and bowed.
“What business did you call me for, my boss?” asked the hunter.
- You will play hide and seek with my son. Tomorrow, when you come in the morning, look for him. “If you don’t find it, I’ll cut off your head,” the bai answered.
The hunter listened and went home. I sat in the yurt hanging my head. The wife asked:
- What business did the bai call for?
— He makes him play hide and seek with his son. He threatens to cut off his head if I don’t find my son. I don’t understand what this is for.
The wife immediately realized what was going on and said:
- Don't be sad. Go to bed. In the morning I will teach you how to play hide and seek.
At dawn she woke up her husband and, while he was eating, taught:
- When you enter the boy’s house, don’t say hello. Turn over everything in the house. Throw the dishes on the floor and let them break. Look into all corners. When you turn everything upside down, go into the yard. At the hitching post you will see three identical horses under saddle. Look at them carefully - one horse will have a slightly closed left eye, and the end of the bit will be rusty. Get on this horse, pull the reins harder, tear his mouth until it bleeds, and hit him in the eyes with a whip, without sparing him.
Then you will see for yourself what will happen. Just watch - hit harder.
A hunter came to Khara Khan's yurt. He doesn't say hello or goodbye. Silently he turned everything upside down, smashed all the dishes and went out into the yard.
In the yard I went straight to the hitching post. Three horses stand at the hitching post, looking alike. The hunter looked carefully and saw: the eye of the average horse was half covered with an eyelid, and the end of the bit was rusty. The hunter sat astride this horse. He tears the reins and hits his eyes with all his might with the whip. The horse spun under him, reared up and suddenly turned into the son of Khara Khan - his eyes were swollen and blood was coming from his mouth.
“Here he is, your son,” said the hunter to Khara Khan.
- Okay, go home. Tomorrow my son will come looking for you. If he finds it, I'll cut off your head.
The hunter came home sad. The wife began to ask questions. I told her everything that happened.
- Don't be sad ahead of time. Sit down, eat and go to bed.
The next morning we woke up and heard the clatter of horses. A hunter ran in: where can you hide in the yurt? And the son of Khara Khan is already getting off the horse. The wife, without saying anything, turned her husband into scissors, picked him up and cut something. The bai's son entered the yurt, turned everything over - there was no one. Confused. Standing, looking around.
“Did you find it?” asks the hunter’s wife.
“No, I didn’t find it,” answered Khara-Pidekei.
When he turned away, his wife dropped the scissors. Khara-Pidekei looked around, and the hunter was standing in the middle of the yurt and laughing at him with his wife.
Khara-Pidekei returned to his father and said:
- You are the most important here. As you wish, take the hunter’s wife, otherwise I’m not your son, you’re not my father.
Khara Khan called the hunter again and told him:
— A black bear lives in the black taiga. Go to this bear and ask how old he is.
The hunter returned home and hung his head. Zhenya says:
- He decided to take my life and send me to the black bear.
“Nothing, lie down and rest, and I’ll go to the ulus,” said the wife.
I went to the ulus, collected various scraps of skins from a landfill and returned to the taiga. I sat up all night,
I sewed seven hats from rags. At dawn she woke up her husband and said:
- Here are seven hats for you. In the black taiga you will see three poplars. Below them will be a bear's den. Come without fear, lie down on your back. Put two hats on your feet, two on your knees, two on your hands and one on your head. Just lie there and see what happens.
The hunter packed up and left. How long or how long did he walk until he reached the black taiga? He walks through the taiga and sees three poplars. He approached them, lay down on the ground in front of the den and did everything as his wife ordered.
The bear jumped out of the den and growled. He just can’t understand what kind of seven-headed miracle lies in front of him. He walks around and talks to himself:
— Poplars stand for three hundred years. I lived under them in a den for sixty years, and I have never seen anything like this.
The bear thought and ran into the forest away from trouble.
A hunter came to Khara Khan.
“Did you find out what I told you?” asked Khara Khan.
“I found out,” the hunter answered. “The poplars have been standing above the den for three hundred years.” And the bear lives in the world for sixty years.
Khara-khan took the black book, opened it and reads it. Everything turned out to be as the hunter said.
The hunter went home, and Khara Khan began to persuade his son:
- Why do you need a hunter’s wife? Take another girl. Are there not enough of them?
The son stood his ground:
“What kind of a babe are you if you can’t force a hunter to give up his wife?”
Khara Khan waved his hand and said:
- Okay, we'll call him again tomorrow.
The next morning the hunter came to Khara Khan. He opened the door, said hello, stepped through the threshold, bowed, and asked:
- Why did you call, boss?
“Thirty years have passed since my mother and father died,” said Khara Khan. “When my father died, I put a black fur coat on him.” When my mother died, I covered her with a black silk scarf. You go to the kingdom of the devil Erlik Khan, find your father and mother - let them give you a scarf with a fur coat. If you don’t manage it in half a month, I’ll cut off your head.
The hunter returned home, hung his head, did not eat or drink. His wife began to question him. Her husband told her everything that happened.
“Here’s what you do,” said the wife. “Find the dog’s skull, take this ball of thread and throw it in front of you.” The ball will roll, and you follow it. He will take you very far. You'll find yourself in the dark. You will be scared. You throw the dog's skull and move on. And then you will see for yourself what needs to be done. Well go, dear.
The hunter threw the ball in front of him. The ball rolled, and he followed it. How long or how long did it take, the ball rolled into the cave. There was darkness all around, it became scary. The hunter threw the dog's skull and moved on. He walked and walked, and suddenly it seemed to him that some shadows were wandering around. Then a voice is heard:
“Did you come for business, orphan?” The hunter told what business he came for. Then one of the shadows says:
- Greedy Khara-khan. We left him cattle, a rich yurt, and money. Everything is not enough for him. Now he demands the last scarf and fur coat from his mother and father. Go to him and say: “Because of your greed, turn into a black woodpecker. Let your wife Kokei-Purchun turn into a blue woodpecker. Day and night, hammer the ebony tree with your beaks. And let your son Khara-Pidekei turn into a magpie and rummage through the dung. Tell me: this is what your deceased father and mother wished. On the way back, don't forget the dog's skull. He barks day and night and gives us no rest.”
The hunter went home. He passed by the skull, but did not take it: “Let him bark.”
How long or how long did he walk until he followed the ball to his home? He looks: an empty yurt - only ash and ashes in the hearth. The hunter ran to Khara Khan. And in the ulus, the khan’s son marries his wife, they are going to celebrate the wedding.
The hunter quietly entered Khara Khan's yurt and heard his wife say:
- Wait, the deadline hasn’t expired yet...
“He won’t come anyway,” answered the Khan’s son.
“I’ve already arrived,” said the hunter.
Khara Khan looked back. He sees: the hunter is standing safe and sound.
- You came. “Did you bring what I told you?” asked Khara Khan.
“I brought you greetings from your father and mother,” answered the hunter. “They said this: “Let Khara Khan, because of his greed, turn into a black woodpecker, and his wife into a blue woodpecker.” Let them both hammer the ebony day and night. Let the son of Khara Khan turn into a magpie and rummage through dung all his life.”
As soon as he said so, Khara Khan and his wife turned into woodpeckers, and their son into a magpie. All three flew out of the yurt.
The rich guests of Khara Khan fled in fright, and the poor people chose a hunter to take the place of Khara Khan and divided all the Bai cattle among themselves.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru