A husband and wife lived in the same village. They lived to old age, but they had no children. And suddenly a boy was born to them.
“If happiness has come to us in our old age, we will not raise the boy in an ordinary cradle - we will make it from elderberries,” the old men decided and went into the forest. They took the child with them. They left him in a forest clearing, and they themselves went into the thicket.
At this time a bear came out of the forest. He grabbed the child and disappeared into the bushes. When the old man and the old woman returned and did not find their son, they wept bitterly.
“A dog bites an unfortunate person, even if he is sitting on a camel,” said the old woman, “and so it is with us.” They could not save the son they had been waiting for all their lives.
They cried and returned home.
And the bear began to raise the baby. He fed him only deer fat and fresh honey. The boy grew day by day, and the bear called him Batyr.
When Batyr grew up, the bear took him out of the den and led him to a large plane tree.
“Uproot this tree,” he said.
Batyr took hold of the tree, began to pull it, swing it in different directions, but could not pull it out.
- Let's go back to the den, you haven't become a man yet! - said the bear and led Batyr back to the den.
He began to give him even more deer fat and honey. When a year had passed, the bear again took the boy out of the den. Again he led him to a large plane tree and said:
- Uproot this tree and plant it with its top in the ground. Batyr took hold of the tree and pulled it out by the roots. But I couldn’t plant it with the top in the ground.
“You have not yet become what I want, let’s go back,” said the bear and took Batyr to the den.
For another year he fed his pupil deer fat and
fresh honey, and then decided to test its power again. He brought Batyr to the centuries-old plane tree and said:
- Uproot this tree and plant it with its top in the ground. Batyr grabbed the tree with one hand, pulled it out of the ground and planted it with its top in the ground.
“Now you have become a real man,” said the bear, “let’s go home.”
He took the young man into the den and took out some rags.
“Now listen to me, Batyr,” he said. “Your father and mother live in the nearest village.” You will go straight along this path and you will come to your village. Go into every house and show these rags; the one who recognizes them is your father. Then you tell him: “I am your son, whom you lost in the forest many years ago.”
Batyr took the rags and went to the village. He walked down the street and suddenly saw an aul gathering. He approached the men and showed them the rags. They passed from hand to hand and finally got to Batyr’s father. He immediately recognized the swaddling clothes in which his son was wrapped, hugged the young man and led him home.
Batyr began to live in the village. Together with his father, he worked in the field, and soon the swag about the extraordinary strength of the young horseman spread throughout the entire village. This swag has also reached the millet. And they didn’t like pshas if one of the simple horsemen surpassed them in courage or bravery. I thought of psha lime Batyr. But he knew that he could not be overcome by force, and therefore decided to use cunning.
The village in which Batyr lived stood on the bank of the river. A bull settled in this river, who blocked the flow of the river with his body, and the village remained without water until the inhabitants brought a girl to him to eat. Having obtained the victim, the blyago gave some water, and then dammed the river again. So I decided to send Batyr to the devil.
Batyr went to the monster. When he came close to him, the dragon drew air - but then Batyr rushed into the reeds, began to chop them and tie them into bundles. Then he began to throw them into the blyago’s gaping mouth until he was satisfied. Only after that Batyr jumped up to the bull, saddled him and, holding his ears, rode him into the village. The devil roared throughout the entire area, fire flew out of his nostrils - so that all the grass along the sides of the road burned. When the villagers saw this, they jumped out of their yards and rushed into the nearest forest.
The batyr flew into the psha’s yard and drove around it,
until all the buildings were destroyed. After that, he left the psha’s yard, killed the blyago, and brought the inhabitants of the aul back.
I hated Batyr’s pshi even more and began to think about how to get rid of him. And he decided to send a horseman to the seven cannibals-inizhi, who lived on a high mound. He ordered Batyr to plow the ground around the mound.
By order of the psha, Batyr was given a few skinny bulls and an old plow and sent him to plow the land around the mound.
The emaciated bulls could not even move the plow from its place, and Batyr began shouting loudly at them. They heard his cry. The first inyzh came running - Batyr grabbed him, harnessed him to a plow and shouted at him even louder. Other inizhi came running after them - and Batyr caught each one and harnessed it to a plow. Without rest, he plowed on the farms all day and all night, and by morning he finally finished plowing.
In the morning, Pshi sent his people to the mound to see if Batyr was alive or if the foreigners had eaten him.
From a distance the Psha messengers saw that Batyr was plowing the fields.
- Allah, Allah, he harnessed some of them to the plow, plows on them, and even shouts! - they said and ran to the village.
When the pshi heard this, he hated Batyr even more and decided to get rid of him at any cost.
Not far from the village, two wild boars settled in the forest. They terrified the inhabitants of the village - no one dared to go into the forest for firewood. Now Pshi decided to send Batyr to that forest; he hoped that the brave horseman would not escape from the wild boars alive. He ordered the Unauts to give Batyr a dull axe, a rotten rope, an old cart that would fall apart when driven, and bulls that would run away as soon as they were unharnessed.
They did so, and Batyr went into the forest. As soon as he reached the forest and unharnessed the bulls, they ran back to the village. He took an ax - it didn’t cut. The horseman threw him and began to tear out the trees with his hands along with the roots. He tore out several huge plane trees and began to put them in a cart - the cart fell apart. He wanted to tie the trees, but the rope tore into pieces. Then Batyr broke thin branches, tied the plane trees with them, and tied them to the cart. I started looking for bulls, but couldn’t find them. What to do? He dragged the trees on himself. At this time, a wild boar jumped out of the forest. Batyr grabbed him, harnessed him to the cart, sat on the firewood and rode off. I drove a little, and another boar ran out of the forest with a roar.
- Here comes the second one! - Batyr shouted, caught a boar, harnessed it to a cart, sat down on the firewood and drove to the village, straight into the psha’s yard,
Seeing that Batyr was returning unharmed again, and that he had terrible wild boars in his harness, the village residents fearfully climbed onto a fence, some onto a tree, and some even onto the roof of their house.
- For Tha's sake, get the boars out of here! - everyone asked Batyr.
- Are wild boars more terrible than you - they won’t come up with what you do! - said Batyr.
He unharnessed the boars, released them into the forest and followed them himself.
Batyr began to live in the forest. One day while hunting he met two hunters. They became friends and vowed to divide everything they got equally among themselves and never betray their friendship.
They once went hunting and met a white deer of extraordinary beauty. Let's follow him. It seems that the deer is already very close, but the moment the hunters approach him, he jumps - and again he cannot be reached.
The deer ran to some rock and disappeared into its crevice. Batyr and his comrades came here and began to decide who should enter the rock crevice. Those two refused. Batyr went and saw a huge hole.
“Swear that you will not leave me without help, I will go down into this pit,” said Batyr. The hunters swore an oath. They immediately wove a sapet from brushwood and made a belt from deer skin. Batyr sat down in the sapetka, and his companions lowered him into the hole. There was a narrow path in this hole - it led into the cave. Batyr walked along it and came across a door. He opened it and entered a large room.
Three girls were sitting in front of him. One cried, another laughed, and the third sang a song. When they saw Batyr, they rushed to him.
- Why did you come here, horseman, because certain death awaits you! “You have fallen into the possession of a Yinsha monster, who will kill you and eat you,” said the crying girl.
- I'm not afraid of foreigners. Better tell me why you are acting so strange: one is crying, the other is laughing, and the third is singing a song?
“I’m crying because,” said the older girl, “because today the stranger will eat me.” He’ll eat it tomorrow,” she pointed to her middle sister, “that’s why she’s laughing—after all, she’ll live longer.”
one day. And our youngest sister sings because she is destined to live two more days.
- Where is this foreigner now?
“There are seven rooms here, he sleeps in the very last one.”
The batyr pulled out a saber and walked through the rooms, opening one door after another, and reached the room where the monster was sleeping. He swung his saber and cut off his head.
The girls were happy.
- Allah, Allah, how you helped us, you saved us!
They immediately took out all the gold and silver that the inyzh had and began to put it in the sapet. Having filled the sapetka, they pulled the rope, and the hunters pulled out the sapetka. After all the wealth had been raised, the eldest girl sat in the sapetka, followed by the middle one. When they lowered the blanket for the youngest, she said:
- Now sit down, they might leave you here!
“No,” said Batyr, “you are a woman, I cannot go upstairs before you.”
“It would be better if you listened to me,” said the girl. “But if your friends leave you in this pit, remember what you need to do.” There is a sheepfold attached to the room where Inyzh slept. There are three rams in it - gray, white and black. If you go to the sheepfold and throw yourself at a white ram, he will throw you seven tiers up, and you will find yourself in the above-ground world. If you throw yourself at the black ram, he will throw you seven tiers down into the underworld.
Having said this, the girl sat down in the sapetka, and the hunters lifted her up.
- How much gold is there still? - they asked.
“Very much,” answered the girl.
Then they lowered the sapet into the hole. Batyr sat in it, and they began to lift him. But when they saw Batyr, they cut off the belt, and the sapetka fell back into the pit.
Batyr realized that his friends had broken their oath. What was to be done? But then he remembered the words spoken by the youngest of the girls, and went to the sheepfold. When he entered there, the rams began to run so fast that his eyes started to blur. Batyr wanted to rush at the white ram, but at that moment a black one ran up to him, and Batyr fell on him. He threw the horseman up, and he flew seven tiers down into the underworld.
So Batyr found himself in another world. He began to look around and saw a mountain nearby. I climbed it and saw a tall
tree. On top of it was a huge nest. Three eaglets sat in it and hissed shrilly, as if they were asking for help.
“What a miracle!” - thought Batyr. Suddenly he saw a huge boa constrictor crawling up the tree - he was about to be in an eagle’s nest.
Batyr grabbed a saber and cut the boa constrictor into several pieces.
Then one of the eaglets spoke in human language:
- Allah, Allah, what a great thing you have done. When our mother returns, she will thank you!
Before he had time to utter these words, a huge cloud covered the sky, it became dark and a hurricane arose.
“Don’t be afraid, man,” said the same eaglet, “it’s our mother flying, quickly climb into the nest.” We will hide you under our wings, otherwise she will tear you to pieces.
Batyr sat in the nest, and the eaglets closed it. Soon a huge eagle landed on the tree.
“Fi, fi, I smell a human smell,” she said.
- Look down, mother! - said the eaglets.
The eagle looked down and saw a chopped up boa constrictor. She came down from the tree and ate it.
- For the one who saved my children, I will do anything! - said the eagle.
Then Batyr came out of the nest:
- I did it!
-Then come closer! - said the eagle. - You saved my children - after all, this boa constrictor ate my eaglets every year, and I was left without offspring. Now you killed him, and I want to thank you. Tell me how you got here and what do you need?
Batyr told the eagle about everything that happened to him and asked:
- If you can, take me to the above-ground world! I don't need anything else.
“A long time ago, when I was young, I flew with my mother to the ground world,” said the eagle. “But to carry you there, I need the meat and skins of seven buffaloes.” You need to sew skins into skins and fill them with water.
Batyr thought.
- Where can I get seven buffaloes in a foreign land? - he said.
“I’ll take you to the nearest village, and you somehow earn seven buffaloes there - that will be food for me for the road.”
Batyr agreed. The eagle put him on his back and flew over his body. She landed outside the outskirts of the village.
“When you prepare provisions for the road, put them in this place and let me know about it,” said the eagle and flew away.
Batyr entered the village and saw a cart coming towards him. The old man sitting behind the coachman sang a song loudly, and the beautiful girl sobbed.
Batyr stopped the arba.
- What kind of miracle, thamada*? Why are you singing loudly and the girl is crying?
“Nice horseman, I sing because I am taking this beauty as a sacrifice to the devil who has dammed our river with his body.” As soon as I give him the girl, he will give us water. We will water the cattle, get drunk ourselves and stay alive - now we are already dying of thirst. I rejoice at this and sing. But the girl knows that she is doomed to death, so she cries. All the girls in our village have already been eaten by the cruel devil. Today I’m taking the Khan’s daughter, but I don’t know what we’ll do later.
- Take me with you! - said Batyr.
- What, are you thirsty too? “Sit down,” said the old man. The three of them drove on. The old man is still loud
sang, and the girl cried.
When we arrived very close to the river, Batyr ordered the old man to stop and wait for him. And he tucked the skirts of his Circassian coat, pulled out a sword and headed towards the monster. When he was very close, the fucker rushed and rushed at him like a thunderstorm. But Batyr swung his sword and cut off his jaw; he swung it a second time and he blew his head off. Then he chopped the damn into pieces, cut off his ears and threw them into the cart.
“Go back, thamada,” he said to the old man. And he himself went to the village another way.
And the old man proudly sat down on the cart, as if he had killed the devil, and drove into the village, right into the khan’s yard.
At this time, the inhabitants of the village saw that water mixed with black blood flowed in the river.
- Allah, Allah, what happened? - Everyone rushed to the old man.
“Don’t you see,” he said proudly, “I killed the devil, freed the river and brought back the khan’s daughter.”
“I give my daughter as a wife to the brave man who saved her life and the life of the entire village!” - said the khan.
When the khan's daughter heard this, she said:
- Let this brave man take the fucking ears off the cart! If he can do this, it means he has really killed the monster!
They brought the old man to the cart, but he couldn’t even move his fucking ears.
“Vollagi, whoever can’t take the damn ears off the cart couldn’t put them there!” - the village residents began to speak.
They drove the deceiving old man away.
- Who killed the damn thing? - they began to ask the khan’s daughter.
“He was killed by a man not from our region.” “I saw that he went to the village by a different route,” she said.
“Come on, marge, quickly find this horseman and bring him to me,” the khan ordered.
Meanwhile, Batyr was standing nearby, talking with the old people - he decided to hire out to graze the aul herd in order to earn buffaloes.
The khan's envoys saw him and took him to him.
- Try, horseman, to remove the damn ears from the cart! - said the khan. Batyr didn’t even touch them with his hands - he used the tip
sabers and threw them off the cart.
- That's who killed the monster! - the villagers shouted in one voice.
“Ask, horseman, whatever you want,” said the khan, “for saving the life of my daughter and ridding our river of evil, you are worthy of any reward!”
“I need seven buffalos,” answered Batyr.
- Is that a lot! - said the inhabitants of the village and instantly drove him seven buffaloes.
They invited him to stay with them and relax, but Batyr refused.
He drove the buffaloes to the place indicated by the eagle, slaughtered them, skinned them and made huge wineskins. Batyr put meat in one pile, and wineskins filled with water in another.
When everything was ready, Batyr notified the eagle about this. She immediately flew in and landed at the outskirts of the village. Batyr put meat on one of her wings, waterskins with water on the other, and he sat on her back. Before she took off, the eagle said:
“Now hold on to me tightly so that the wind doesn’t blow you away.” If I say “kaw”, throw meat into my beak; if I say “drop”, pour water into my mouth. And she rose into the air.
An eagle is flying. She says “kau” - Batyr throws her meat, says “kap” - pours water. So they flew for seven days and
whose - their reserves began to dry up. There was very little water left, and the meat was gone.
When the eagle said “kau” for the last time, Batyr cut off a piece from his leg with a saber and threw it into her mouth.
At this time they reached the ground world, and the eagle descended to the ground. When she said “get down!”, Batyr came down to the ground, but could not stand on his feet - he sat down.
- Why did you sit down? - asked the eagle.
“My legs are numb from sitting for a long time,” answered Batyr.
- This is not true! - said the eagle. Batyr had to admit that he cut off a piece of meat from his leg and threw it to her.
“I guessed from the taste that this was not buffalo meat,” said the eagle. “Come on, show your leg!”
Batyr showed his leg. The eagle spat on the wound, and it was as if it had never happened.
“Now I’m even with you,” said the eagle. “You are in your own land, I wish you good luck!”
And she rose into the air.
And Batyr went in search of friends who betrayed him. He walked through many villages and finally found them in one. They built beautiful houses for themselves and lived behind high fences. One of them married the older girl, the other married the middle one, and the younger girl, who warned Batyr about the danger, was made a nautka.
Batyr killed both his friends and their families who betrayed him, and married the younger girl.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru