Old people have their lives behind them. Old people know a lot - they can always give good advice. Only a young person can say a good word: he has more strength, better eyes, stronger hands, his whole life is ahead of him - he looks forward.
For a long time, the Ude lived in warm regions, on the plain, on the seashore. There were many of them, like trees in the forest. They lived quietly and did not fight with anyone. Animals were killed, fish were caught, the law was observed, children were raised. It was a long time ago.
Then in one camp the owner was the senior shaman Kandiga. When someone gets sick, Kandiga takes out his tambourine, on which Agdy - thunder - is drawn, lights a fire, heats the tambourine on the fire and begins to perform shamanism. He walks around the fire, dances, says different words, sings, beats the tambourine as if thunder is thundering. Kandiga beats the tambourine, says - he scares the evil devils... It makes such a noise that then the echo responds for two days. Some sick people will get better, you see. And if he dies... and then the shaman will do his job: on a gray bird with a red beak, he will take the soul of the deceased to the underworld - Buni -. True, no one has seen that bird, but how can you not believe a shaman!
The shaman's relatives were afraid and obeyed him. Whatever the shaman wants to take, they give it away. Whatever the shaman says, they will do it. How can you not give it to a shaman! If you don’t give it, he will release evil devils into the camp, it will be bad for everyone... They said about Kandiga that he was a very great shaman. The devils loved the shaman - Kandiga had everything, even when all the other Ude were starving, they chewed their high boots from hunger.
And the young guy Dimdig lived in that camp. He was a good hunter: he killed two geese with one arrow. The guy is just like a guy, not worse than others, but better. This guy looked at Kandiga - he couldn’t understand one thing: why it happened this way; he will kill two sables, one for himself, the other for Kandiga again. Kandiga does not go hunting, does not get wet in the swamp, does not dry out in the sun, does not freeze in the cold, and receives the same amount of prey as Dimdiga. Why is this?
At the council of men, Kandiga says, dividing the spoils:
- We did well, everyone is happy... Dimdiga says; - Boss! I'm not happy... Why is this? You sit in a yurt, you don’t hit your feet. All men give you half of it. Why do I, a hunter, have less good than you?
- You're stupid! - says Kandiga. – Perfume brings me happiness! Why? Talk to them... Now I’ll call all my devils here!
He puts on a horned hat, puts on a belt with rattles, and grabs a rattling tambourine. The tambourine rattles - thunder comes all over the area.
The old people ask:
- Don’t be a shaman, don’t listen to the young man! He didn't gain any intelligence from the hunt, he only got the beast from the hunt...
“Okay,” says the shaman, “I forgive him only for your sake.”
And again Dimdiga goes hunting. He hits the beast: one for himself, one for Kandiga. And the shaman scolds Dimdigu for everything. No matter what the guy says, everything is against the shaman.
... That year people came running from a distant camp. Ragged, hungry people came running. They say, crying:
- Scary people attacked us! There are a great many of them! You yourself are like tigers! They ride wild animals.
-What kind of animals? - Dimdig asks at the council. - Dogs?
- No, not dogs.
- Deer?
- No, not deer. Shouldn't we know about deer - we've been keeping deer all our lives! Those animals have four legs, smooth fur, a muzzle similar to a deer, but not quite; Those animals have long tails. Those animals scream so that you can hear them far away. Those who hear their cry have a hare's heart. Those people don't spare anyone. Men are killed, women are taken away, small children are thrown to their beasts.
- Bad people! says Dimdiga. “We have to leave, we don’t have the strength to fight them.”
- That's not it. people,” says Kandiga.
- Yes, we saw it ourselves: those people had two arms, two legs, one head. They don't speak our way. All that is left of the villages is ashes. Where they pass, grass does not grow there.
“They’re not people,” says Kandiga, “they’re evil devils!” It was Dimdiga who called them... There are no such people! I’ll do shamanism - give me gifts, I’ll drive away those devils!
People from distant camps are running further... People are running from middle camps.
- Run! - they shout. - Evil people attacked us! We have no strength against them! They are burning yurts and beating people!
“We need to leave,” Dimdiga says at the council. – Evil spirits do not burn yurts.
“They’re not people,” Kandiga stands his ground, “they’re evil devils!” There is no devil that would scare me. I’ll play shaman and I’ll scare all the devils! Bring me gifts!
People from the middle camps are running further... From the nearby camps people have come running:
- Call those evil people mungals! They say they went through the whole world and left no one alive! The only ones alive are you and me!
– Do mungals get off their animals? - Dimdig asks at the council.
“They get off when they eat and kill.”
– What do mungals eat?
- Those animals that come with them as spare ones.
“These are people,” says Dimdiga.. “We need to prepare weapons.” We need to get out of their way. What do Mungal animals eat?
“Grass,” people answer...
“We need to go to the forest, we need to go to the mountains,” says Dimdiga. “Those people are obviously not used to forests and mountains.”
- Those are the devils! - says Kandiga. – Evil spirits, Dimdiga teased them. Bring gifts to me! I'm done. I will drive away troubles. I will make a mangni - an idol, I will drive away all the devils.
Kandiga began to practice shamanism day and night. He will fall from fatigue, jump up again. shaman. He made a terrible idol - Mangni - and circles around it.
Mangni is standing on a hill. Three heights in it. Mangni's belly is empty so that he will always be hungry. His hands are entwined with snakes so that they are flexible in a fight. That Mangni has lizards on his legs so he can run fast. He has a bird in his chest instead of a heart. On the chest there is a polished copper circle, like the sun shining, to blind enemies. Everything is reflected in that copper circle.
Kandiga says:
“The Mungals will fly up on their animals, see themselves in the copper circle, and think that there is no one here except them.” They will leave.
“We need to drive away the Mungals with spears and arrows,” says Dimdiga.
People are crowding towards Kandiga. No one will protect them anymore.
Kandig made two more idols - Mangni to help him beat the devils.
Dimdiga says here:
- Hey, people! A big trouble has come - it’s not up to the old Kandi-ge to drive it away. Take bows, arrows, spears, go to the forests, go to the mountains! Those Mungal animals need grass. The Mungals will reach the forests, the mountains, they will see that there is nothing to feed the animals, and they will turn back!
There was a noise in the camp. The young people shout:
– Dimdiga speaks the truth – men must fight!
The old people scream:
- No one is strong against devils!
And the Mungals are already close... Their scream can already be heard... The flames are already visible: the Mungals are burning the yurts of Dimdigi’s fellow tribesmen.
Shamanite Kandiga. Foam sprays out of his mouth. The tambourine thunders like thunder. The trinkets on the belt jingle. The horned cap is swaying. Old people are shaking with fear, looking at him.
Dimdiga says to his Kindred:
- Whoever comes with me - cross the stream! If you feel sorry for your children, cross the stream! Those who are not ashamed to take up arms - move on!...
Those who did not believe the shaman crossed the stream. Those who stayed with the shaman were those who believed in the devils more than in their own hands.
Dimdiga left.
And the mongals are coming like a cloud. Like the sand on the seashore of those mongals! The earth trembles from the stomping. There is a noise above the mongals, like in a flood: they shout, whoop, and drive their animals. In their hands they have long curved sabers, quivers with arrows behind their shoulders, and battle axes at the saddle. Dimdiga said the truth that it is not the devils of the Mungals, but people.
The mongals saw the camp and screamed even louder. They shot a whole cloud of arrows - the sun was no longer visible!
And Dimdiga and his people are already not far from the forest. The Mungals saw Dimdigu and rushed after him. We almost caught up. Yes, the guy has already entered the forest. Dimdiga drove the women and children further. And he and the men hid behind the trees.
They began to shoot arrows from their tight bows at the Mungals. The arrows sang and flew. An arrow will pass through the devil, how can a person kill the devil? And the mungals fall from their saddles...
From tree to tree - Dim- goes deeper into the forest. diga. From tree to tree, those who left the camp with him also go deeper into the forest.
The Mungals chased Dimdiga for a long time. Only their animals are unusual in the forest. Only the animals are cramped in the forest. Only there is nothing to feed the animals in the forest. There is nowhere for the Mungals to graze those animals. Only gray moss hangs on the trees around and ferns stand like a wall... The mongals turned back.
Dimdig sent his people to tell all his tribesmen how to escape from the Mungals. The Ude flocked to the forests and mountains. They began to live in the mountains and in the forests. The Ude became forest people. That's what they are still called.
... I don’t know how much time has passed. Dimdiga went to the old camp. I wanted to see if Kandiga Mangni helped him with his one-legged creatures.
Dimdiga sees that the Mungals reached the sea, turned back, and went back to their steppe plains.
He sees Dimdiga - in the old camp of Mangni lies defeated... Grass grows in an empty belly, lizards run in an empty chest. The one-legged helpers lie charred - the mongals made a fire out of them.
He sees Dimdiga - the shaman is lying down, legs spread out, holding an ax in his hands. Next to him lies a mungal, killed with an ax. Apparently I remembered the shaman Dimdigu. yes it was late. Kandiga lies. A black raven sits on it. Ferrets and wolverines are prowling around the camp.
Dimdiga went back to the forest. He said to his relatives: Forest and stones are our best protection!
The Ude began to live in the forests. At the council, the young listen to the old. But old people also expect good words from young people.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru