Once upon a time there lived an old man and an old woman. All their lives they worked peacefully, but apart from a dilapidated hut on supports and one lamb, they had nothing. And they didn't have children. The old people grieved and grieved about this.
And then one day the old woman dreamed of Pitambar.
“You have lived in peace and friendship for centuries, you work hard, but you have not seen happiness,” he said. “I want to reward you.” Go before sunrise to the Kiremet oak tree, sacrifice a lamb, then take a piece of the bark of this oak tree, leaven it in a kneader overnight, and in the morning your son-batyr will appear.
The old man and the old woman did everything as Pitambar ordered. The next morning their son appeared. They named him Ivan.
Ivan grew by leaps and bounds. I ate three loaves of bread in one sitting, drank a barrel of water, and within a week I became like a twenty-year-old.
Ivan asks his parents:
- Why do you live so badly?
“Because, son, we live poorly, because we have no happiness and good luck,” answered the old man.
“Well, then I’ll go look for luck,” said Ivan, “and I’ll find it.”
And Ivan went to seek his fortune. He goes a day, goes two and three. And on the seventh day his road led him to a wondrous place. He saw a copper lake. On the shore of that lake there is a beautiful garden. All the apple trees in the garden are bronze, and the apples are red copper.
Ivan boldly jumped over the copper trench and saw in the middle of the garden a large current made of red copper, and near the current there was a copper house.
I entered the house - there was no one, only the smell of fried lamb, and Ivan was very hungry. Without thinking twice, he pulled the roast out of the oven and ate it all.
Then he lay down on the bed and fell into a deep, heroic sleep.
I slept a lot, or a little, and was awakened by the most terrible noise and din. It was as if a storm tore the copper door off its hinges, and a shaggy eagle, covered in copper feathers, flew into the room. He hit the floor and turned into a man.
- Who dared to enter my house uninvited, uninvited and take advantage of my goods?
“I dared,” Ivan answered.
- Oh, it’s you, Ivan Batyr! - the eagle shouted. - I heard about you. You won't leave here alive!
“Well, if you want to measure your strength,” said Ivan, “let’s leave the house.”
They both went out onto the copper current and stood opposite each other.
- Start! - the eagle commanded.
“According to our Chuvash customs,” said Ivan, “the one who asks for a fight starts first.”
The eagle did not hesitate. He squared his shoulders, swung and hit Ivan so hard that he sank into the ground up to his knees. But at that very moment the batyr jumped up, lightly hit the enemy, and the giant eagle fell into the copper current up to its neck. He turned around, twitched and asked for mercy:
- Don't kill me! Be my big brother.
Ivan pulled him out, and he and the eagle set off to travel. We walked almost a thousand miles and saw a silver lake. Near the lake, the silver garden is surrounded by a silver fence. There are silver apple trees with silver fruits in the garden. In the middle of the garden is a silver palace, and in front of the palace is a spacious silver current.
Ivan left the copper eagle on the shore of the lake, and he jumped over the current and entered the palace. He got drunk, ate and fell asleep.
Soon there was a rumble, a noise arose, and an eagle in silver feathers flew into the silver palace.
The eagle turned into a good fellow and began to scold:
“What ignoramus dared to come here without my knowledge?”
Then he noticed Ivan.
- A! Ivan the Batyr himself came! - he shouted. “You came to come, but you won’t get back alive!”
We went to the silver current. The silver eagle hit Ivan with all his might and drove him into the current up to his waist. The good fellow easily got out and said:
- Now it's my turn.
With half his strength he hit the silver eagle and drove it into the current up to its neck. No matter how much the giant eagle struggled, he could not get out and began to ask:
- Be my big brother! Ivan extended his hand to him, helped him get out, and the three of them set off.
Whether they walked long or short, they saw a marvelous golden lake. The golden garden adjoined the lake. There are golden apple trees with golden apples in the garden. Behind the golden tyn there is a golden palace, and near the palace there is a golden current. Ivan left his companions near the lake, and he climbed over the golden fence and entered the palace. He ate and drank as much as he wanted, then lay down on the downy bed and fell asleep.
Suddenly lightning flashed, thunder roared, a storm arose, and a huge shaggy eagle in golden feathers flew into the palace. He turned into a hero and spoke:
- Who is this lying down on my downy bed? Come out!
The young man jumped out of bed.
- A! This is Ivan the Batyr! I heard about you. Let's measure our strength.
They had just left when the golden eagle hit Ivan with all its might and drove him up to his neck into the golden current. Ivan strained all his strength and climbed out, stood on his feet and with terrible force unleashed a blow on the enemy. He was driven into the current to the very top of his head. Only a voice was heard:
“I was in vain to rely on my strength.” I see now: you are much stronger than me. Be my big brother.
Ivan rescued the golden giant, and the four of them went to seek their fortune.
They walked through wide steppes, made their way through dense forests, crossed lakes and seas. We walked through many countries and reached places where the sun always warmed like summer.
They met a hut in a forest clearing, fenced with a high iron wall. Everyone wanted to eat and rest. But they could not find either a gate or a gate in the wall. The giant eagles began to break the wall. No matter how much they fought, they could not do anything. The wall stands as it stood. Then Ivan Batyr grabbed the iron crowbar, struck once, twice, and made a hole in the wall. We entered through a gap into a wide courtyard. There are seven bulls in the yard, but there is no one in the hut. A bull was slaughtered.
“Cook dinner,” Ivan the Batyr said to the copper eagle, “and we’ll go outside the gate, have a look, explore and save some more firewood.”
He welded a copper eagle of a bull and sits waiting for the others. Suddenly a voice was heard behind the door:
- Open the door!
He opened it and saw: standing behind the threshold was an old man, he was as tall as his elbow, and his beard was a fathom long. The old man asked:
- Bring the guest into the hut, sit him down at the table! The copper eagle carried the old man into the hut and sat him down at the table.
-What is that in your cauldron? - asked the old man with the elbow.
“I’ve cooked some meat, I’m waiting for my brothers to have dinner,” answered the copper eagle.
- Ah, he killed my bull! - the old man shouted.
He pulled out three hairs from his beard, twisted and tied a copper eagle with those hairs, ate the soup and meat and disappeared to God knows where.
Three warriors returned to the hut and brought firewood.
- Is lunch ready? - they ask. And the copper eagle somehow freed himself from the hair fetters, stood up from under the bench and said:
“When I lit the stove and started cooking dinner, I got so crazy that I don’t remember how I fell under the bench.”
-Where is lunch?
“I don’t remember anything, only now I woke up.”
There was nothing to do, they slaughtered another bull, left dinner for the silver eagle to cook, and left.
The silver eagle got to work. Soon the meat was boiled down.
At that time a voice was heard behind the door:
- Open the door!
He opened the door and saw behind the threshold an old man with an elbow length, a beard a fathom long.
- Why are you standing there? “Bring me into the hut, sit me down at the table,” says the old man.
A silver eagle lifted him up, and meanwhile the old man pulled out three hairs from his beard, tied up the hero, beat him, crushed him and threw him under the bench. He ate the meat himself, drank the soup and disappeared as if it had never happened.
The warriors came and asked:
-Did you finish lunch?
- What a job! I started cooking and got so excited that my memory was lost. Now I just came to my senses.
They searched and searched, did not find any soup or meat, and fell down to sleep, slurping unsaltedly.
The next day they slaughtered the third bull and said to the golden eagle:
- Today is your turn: cook lunch, and we will come soon.
They said and left.
The meat had just finished cooking when there was a knock on the door. An old man is standing behind the door. And he says:
- Carry me over the threshold, put me on the bench! The golden eagle lifted him up, and the old man, once! — tied him up with three hairs and began to beat him. He hit, he hit, he threw it under the bench:
- Lie there!
And he ate the whole lunch without a trace and disappeared.
Somehow the golden eagle had just time to untie itself when three warriors returned:
- Let's have lunch!
- What a lunch here! - said the golden eagle. “The hut was so toxic, I barely survived, I lay unconscious until you came.”
“Okay,” Ivan Batyr laughed, “go, giant eagles, get some firewood, and I’ll cook dinner and see what’s going on here.”
He killed the fourth bull, put it in a cauldron and put it in the oven.
Prepared lunch. “My brothers and sisters must be here soon,” he thought. And at that very moment I heard a voice from behind the door:
- Open the door for the guest!
- Open it yourself! - Ivan shouted. The door opened, and an old man with an elbow length and a fathom-long beard entered the hut.
- Place me at the table! - asks.
- You can sit down yourself if you want to eat.
- Why is this cooking in your oven? - asks the old man.
“I skinned the ox, I’m cooking dinner,” answered Ivan Batyr.
The old man pulled out three hairs from his beard and rushed at Ivan:
- I’ll show you how to use my goods! Ivan Batyr grabbed the old man in his arms and began to thrash him. He beat and beat, took him out into the street, bent a tall tree, and tied the uninvited guest to it by the beard. He let go of the top, and the old man flew up.
The batyr returned to the hut, and then the eagles appeared. Ivan meets them and chuckles:
“I found out what kind of fumes were in this hut. Now your waste is hanging at the top of the tree.
- Where, where? - the named eagle brothers spoke. - Let's go have a look!
“He’s not going anywhere,” Ivan stopped them. - Let's have lunch, then take a look. Sit down at the table!
We had lunch. We went out into the yard. They look, and on the top of the tree there are only tufts of beard hanging.
“Apparently, he came to his senses and managed to get rid of it,” said Ivan Batyr. “Well, never mind, we’ll follow the tracks.”
All four of them followed in the footsteps of the old man with his elbows. The tracks led them to a bottomless abyss. They cut the ox skins into belts, tied them together, and made a long cable.
- Well, who will be the first to go down into the dungeon for the old man? - Ivan asked.
The eagles shift from foot to foot and are silent. “Well, I guess I’ll have to go down,” said Ivan. “We’ll tie the belt to the tree, and you stay here.” When I pull three times, drag.
With those words, the good fellow grabbed the belt and began to descend. It took a long time to go down. One after another he passed through six layers of earth. And when I went down beyond the seventh layer, the belt ran out. Ivan sees that it’s not far to the bottom. He jumped to the ground and found himself in the underworld. I noticed a hut nearby. The walls are glass and the roof is silk.
Ivan entered the hut and saw: the walls were mirrored, and a beautiful girl was sitting at a glass table.
- Who are you, good fellow? — the girl asked. “And how did you get into the underworld?”
“I’m looking for an old man as big as an elbow, with a beard a fathom long,” answered Ivan.
“You don’t know, it’s clear that this is the king of the underworld, the evil and terrible sorcerer Chigehursukhal.” He has been holding us three sisters captive for a long time and does not release us into the world.
-Where is he now? How to get to him, tell me, beauty.
“And I myself don’t know where he is.” Go to your sister, maybe she will point you out.
Ivan said goodbye to the girl and went to his middle sister. From a distance he saw a house with a silver roof. The moon was shining on the roof and the stars were sparkling. Ivan entered the house, saw a girl even more beautiful than the first, bowed to her and asked:
- Tell me, beauty, how can I find Chigehursuhal?
“Don’t you know, good fellow, that he is a terrible sorcerer?” After all, he will kill you!
- Don't be afraid, beauty! I know this old man, that’s why I came here, to measure my strength with him, and at the same time I will free you, three sisters, from captivity. Tell me how to find him?
- You, good fellow, will have to go to our elder sister, only she knows where Chigehursukhal is now.
Ivan Batyr did not hesitate, he went to his elder sister. He went out to the seashore and saw a hut with a golden roof. At the porch, a three-headed snake guards the hut, not letting anyone through. Before Ivan had time to draw his sword, a girl jumped out onto the porch, so beautiful and friendly, you couldn’t stop looking at her. The good fellow looked at her and was stunned, and his heart felt warm and joyful, as if he had been warmed by the summer sun. And the beauty, looking at him, blushed like a poppy. And then she spoke fearfully:
How did you, good fellow, end up in this terrible underground kingdom of an evil wizard? After all, Chigehursuhal will not let you out of here alive!
“I’m not afraid of the old wizard,” answered Ivan. “Just tell me, how can I find him?” I want to compete with him and free you and your sisters from captivity.
The girl gave him a rocker and a gold ring:
- Walk along the shore and you will reach the fiery bay. The water there is blazing with flames. You dip the rocker seven times, and Chigehursukhal will come out onto land. And in the ring that I gave you, great power is hidden. When you feel that you are weak, take the ring off your little finger and put it on your ring finger.
Your strength will triple. Oh, I wish you could come back safe and sound soon!
Ivan thanked him, said goodbye to the beautiful maiden and walked along the seashore. He reached the bay, in which the water was burning like a flame, and began to lower the rocker into the sea. When he dipped it in for the seventh time, the water in the bay stirred and the flame subsided. A voice was heard:
-Who dares to bother me?!
And after that, old man Chigehursuhal climbed ashore.
- Ahh! It's you who's getting in my way again! Well, know that I won’t let you go alive!
The old man rushed at the young man, now no longer from his elbows, but of enormous height. Ivan barely had time to remove the ring from his little finger and put it on his ring finger. They fought and fought, and both got stuck knee-deep in the ground. Then Ivan contrived and hit the evil sorcerer on the head so hard that he drove him up to his shoulders into the ground, pulled out his sword and completely cut off his head. After that he went to the golden-domed house. The beautiful maiden was waiting for him.
- Oh, how glad I am to see you alive and well! - she said and blushed.
And again Ivan Batyr felt light and joyful in his soul.
“Now you and your sisters have forever got rid of the evil sorcerer, and my sworn brothers and I will lead you out of the underworld.”
The beauty began to fuss and fuss. She took out a golden egg from her pack and, when they went outside, she tossed the egg from hand to hand. At that very moment the palace house with the golden roof disappeared.
She gave the egg to Ivan:
“As soon as you transfer the egg from hand to hand, there will be a golden-domed palace with everything that is in it, where you need it.”
Soon they went to the middle and younger sisters and all four reached the place where the belt cable hung. Ivan lifted the end of the belt a little and said:
“First, let them lift you up one by one, beautiful maidens, and then I will rise too.”
He tied his younger sister to the belt first and tugged at the belt. The eagles pulled out the girl. They can't see enough.
“My two sisters are left there, lower the belt,” said the girl.
When the middle and eldest sister were pulled out, the copper eagle whispered:
“You won’t find better brides anywhere.” I will marry the youngest, you, middle brother, middle sister, and the golden eagle will marry the eldest if we leave Ivan in the underworld.
With those words, he pulled out his sword and crossed the belt.
The belt fell at the warrior’s feet, and Ivan realized that the eagles had betrayed him. I thought about what to do and went wherever my eyes led me. He walked and walked and came to a large village. He asked to go to the last hut:
- Good people, let a passer-by rest!
I found an old woman in the hut. The hostess is crying and crying:
- Grief and sadness have completely exhausted us, good fellow. We have been sitting without water for days, we are exhausted from thirst!
- Why so? - asks Ivan. “The lake is nearby, but you’re sitting without water?”
The old woman began to cry more than ever and complained through her tears:
— A twelve-headed snake has settled in our lake. Whoever comes for water devours everyone. So we live and wait for death, we are afraid to go for water.
- Give me the buckets, I’ll go out into the water and see what kind of snake it is!
He took the buckets, came to the lake and had just managed to scoop up some water when the water began to boil, a large wave rose and a monster with twelve heads appeared from the water.
“I waited three days for prey,” the snake growled, “and now I’ve got it!”
The snake opened all twelve mouths and rushed at Ivan. The fellow met him with a blow of his sword and cut off three heads at once. A hot battle began - a mortal game. We fought for a long time. Ivan managed to cut off three more heads, and he felt: his strength had run out, his hand had weakened. And the snake trampled him into the ground up to his knees. It's about to completely overcome. Then he remembered the ring that the soul maiden gave him. He pulled the ring off his little finger, put it on his ring finger, and immediately became three times stronger than before. My strength tripled, and my fear of the snake disappeared. He chops with a sword and the snake heads roll one after another. He cut off the twelfth head, and the lifeless monster fell to the ground.
All the village residents, young and old, met Ivan Batyr. They hug and glorify him:
“Ask, good fellow, what you want, for which you saved us from the snake, saved us from certain death.”
“If you had helped me get out of the underground kingdom into the world, then that would have been my reward,” said Ivan.
“Only the bird Amarth can help you with this,” advised the eldest old man. — The bird Amarth lives on a twenty-planted pine tree. I'll have to go to her.
The young man said goodbye to the people and hit the road. I approached the tree, and at that time a large snake was crawling towards the nest on the pine tree. From the nest, the chicks looked at the snake with fear. Ivan took pity on them, picked up a large stone and killed the snake. The chicks were happy and chirped:
- Thank you, kind man, you saved us from death. Our mother, the bird Amarth, will soon arrive. She will thank you.
At that time, a terrible noise came through the forest and everything around went dark. The Amarth bird covered the sun with its wings. The chicks squealed:
- Why did she leave us alone for a long time? A large snake attacked the nest; it would have eaten us if the good fellow had not protected us.
It was here that the bird Amart noticed Ivan the Batyr.
- How can I thank you, good fellow, for your good deed? she asked.
“Help me rise from the underworld to the white light,” Ivan asked.
- I’ll lift you up. The road is familiar, but long, and you are painfully heavy. Prepare twelve pounds of meat and twelve buckets of water. When we start getting up, look: if I turn my head to the right, throw meat into my mouth, and if I turn to the left, let’s drink. Without this, the strength will not be enough to carry you into the world.
Ivan returned to the village and told what the bird Amarth required. The people gladly helped him. Ivan loaded the supplies onto the back of the bird Amarth and sat on it himself. The bird flapped its ten-length wings and flew away. He turns his head to the right, Ivan throws meat into her mouth, turns his head to the left, he gives her a drink. They flew and flew, all the supplies began to run out, and the bird Amarth turned its head more and more often to the right, then to the left. In the end, there was no meat or water left, and at that very time a bird flew into the world, fell to the ground along with Ivan and said:
“If I had to get up even a little more, I would have thrown you off, well done, I’m so weak.” And now goodbye. Go where you need to go, but I’m in a hurry to get to the kids.
Ivan thanked the bird Amart and set off. He goes and rejoices: “How good it is in this world! It’s joyful to walk through our native, inhabited land, not like in the underworld!”
He walked for a long time or a short time and reached the golden palace where the golden eagle lived. And there is a feast on the mountain. All three eagles are playing a wedding, they are going to lead three beautiful sisters to the crown.
- Do you know how treason and betrayal are punished? - Ivan shouted.
He pulled out his sharp sword, and then stopped:
“I don’t want to shed blood to be happy that I made it to the ground.” Get away from here, you know, just so as not to see the black traitors for me!
The eagles ran away without looking back, disappearing to an unknown location.
- Do you, beauties, recognize me? - he turned to the girls.
The younger and middle sisters shook their heads:
- We don’t remember something. And the older sister threw herself on Ivan’s neck:
- Dear, beloved Ivanushka! Is it possible to forget you? I remembered you all the time, cried and hoped that I would not be separated from you forever! After all, I gave away my ring and called you my betrothed.
Ivan Batyr sent his middle and younger sister to their parents, and brought the eldest to his old people, to his father and mother.
Their father and mother greeted them with great joy.
“Well, son,” asked the father, “have you found happiness?”
- He freed three captives from the underworld, killed an evil wizard, helped the people free themselves from a twelve-headed serpent, found a beautiful bride, a faithful and loving friend. Isn't this happiness?
- True, son. Apparently, it was not in vain that you left your home and wandered around the world. Your mother and I liked your bride, and we bless you with joy. Live in peace and harmony, as we lived our lives.
And they started a wedding feast for the whole world. And I was at that feast, learned about all this and told the tale.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru