In the old days, mighty Baikal was cheerful and kind. He deeply loved his only daughter Angara.
There was no more beautiful woman on earth.
During the day it is light - brighter than the sky, at night it is dark - darker than a cloud. And no matter who drove past the Angara, everyone admired it, everyone praised it. Even migratory birds - geese, swans, and cranes - descended low, but rarely landed on the water. They said:
- Is it possible to blacken something light?
Old man Baikal took care of his daughter more than his heart.
One day, when Baikal fell asleep, Angara rushed to run to the young man Yenisei.
The father woke up and splashed his waves angrily. A fierce storm arose, mountains howled, forests fell, the sky turned black from grief, animals scattered in fear all over the earth, fish dived to the very bottom, birds flew away to the sun. Only the wind howled and the heroic sea raged.
The mighty Baikal hit the gray mountain, broke off a rock from it and threw it after the fleeing daughter.
The rock fell right on the beauty's throat. The blue-eyed Angara begged, gasping and sobbing, and began to ask:
- Father, I’m dying of thirst, forgive me and give me at least one drop of water...
Baikal shouted angrily:
- I can only give you my tears!..
For hundreds of years, the Angara has been flowing into the Yenisei like tear-water, and gray-haired and lonely Baikal has become gloomy and scary. The rock that he threw after his daughter was called the Shaman's Stone. Rich sacrifices were made there to Baikal. People said: “Baikal will be angry, it will tear off the Shaman’s stone, the water will rush in and flood the whole earth.”
Only it was a long time ago, now people are brave and are not afraid of Lake Baikal...
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru