In the wooded mountains, in the very center of them, on the banks of a large river, one man was born. He did not have a mother called mother, and he did not have a father called father. This is how he lived. How long he lived this way is unknown.
One day he thought deeply: I am a man, so are there really no people anywhere except me? But he really was a man, only not like everyone else: he was the size of a two-year-old child, but he spoke and reasoned like an adult. He had such a huge and round belly that it was impossible to find either his left or right side, like a nut. His appearance was that of a hooligan freak.
He lived alone for a long time. If you ask what he ate, this is how he did it: when summer came, he ate berries, drank drops of rain, lying on his back and opening his mouth; ate snow in winter. Apart from this, I didn’t eat anything. A river flowed not far from his dwelling-utena. But this little man never went down to the river and drank river water.
And then one day he was sitting in his uten, when suddenly the door opened and a bear appeared on the threshold. This man saw a bear for the first time and almost died of fear. And the bear spoke like a man:
- Hello!
[Uten - dwelling.]
The man is silent, rooted to the spot out of fear. “I came to you,” says the bear. - Why were you born so small? - asks.
“I’m not small,” the man answers. - I’m an adult, I’m twenty-one years old. I don’t have a mother or father, I live alone.
Here the bear says:
- Sit on me, I’ll show you the size of the Middle Earth. I'll take you to the ends of the world. No
you have no one: no sister, no brother, no mother, no father. You, lonely, don’t care where to live. No matter what land I take you to, you will still remain a human being.
A man saddled the bear and they rushed off. There is a mountain - they will pass the mountain, there is a river - they will swim across the river. The bear keeps jumping and jumping. He gallops so fast that only trees, mountains and rivers flash by. And the man doesn’t fall: he clings to the bear’s fur and sits on his back.
They raced like this for a long time. A large mountain appeared in the distance. The bear began to climb this mountain. Climbing and climbing, higher and higher. Finally the top of this mountain appeared. And at the very top of the mountain there was a large lake. The bear ran to the lake and stopped.
-Aren't you hungry? - asks.
“Yes, I don’t eat anything at all,” the man answers. — When it rains, I lie down on my back and drink the raindrops. There was a river nearby, but I never drank river water.
“Listen to me carefully,” says the bear. — Now a big pig will swim out from the middle of the lake. It will swim up to you, don’t be afraid of it. I won't let her eat you.
I just had time to say how the lake became agitated, waves began to flow across it, like across the sea. They looked - a huge pig emerged from the lake. Somehow, carrying herself, she stepped ashore. She stepped onto the ground and turned to the bear:
- Well, why did you need me?
- I called you to this man. At least tall
he is a two-year-old child, he is twenty-one years old. Do something so that he grows up and becomes like other people. Bathe him in the water of your lake.
[Swimming in the lake is apparently communion with one’s mother’s family, that is, with one’s own family. As it turns out later, the hero’s mother is the grandmother of the hero’s future wife. The hero never drank water from the river or lake - therefore he did not grow up, he was a deformed dwarf.]
After swimming in the water of your lake, maybe he will become a normal person.
How the man ended up on the pig’s back, he doesn’t know. He only sees: he is on a pig, and the bear is standing on the shore!
“Take care of him,” says the bear to the pig, “let him become a real person.”
They plunged into the water, and the person does not know what happened to him: either he suffocated, or fell asleep. I woke up - I was sitting in someone’s house, an old man was sitting next to me, a woman was sitting not far away. He had never seen people. They sit at the table, and he sits at the table.
“Well, the man who came is a guest,” the man tells him. - We don’t know your name. You eat, and then you will tell about yourself.
Our man ate, drank water, and then got up. He stood up and almost hit the roof of their home with his head. While he was eating, he grew up; it turns out he became a very tall man.
- What land did you come from? - the old man asks him.
“And I came from the very center of the earth, from the Middle Land.” I grew up on the bank of the river, but never drank its water. I grew up in utena, which has a patron spirit. He drank, exposing his mouth to the raindrops, and sometimes ate berries. I’ve never drank river water, but this is the first time I’ve had it here.
“Well, my child, listen to me carefully,” the old man continues. - Your father and your mother
[U ten, having a patron spirit - the dwelling in which the hero was born. Literally: a dwelling-uten in which one found a soul. (Evenk: kutneri utelken.)]
I know. Having given birth to you, they lived with you for ten years. But you didn’t grow, you were still the size of a two-year-old child. You turned ten years old, and you didn’t eat, drink or grow anything. They got scared, thinking that it was a bad spirit that had entered into you. They got scared, left you alone and left. Your parents are still alive. Now, having become a normal person, do you want to return to your homeland?
- How can I get back? - our man answers. - I don’t know where my homeland is. How and through what lands the bear brought me here, I don’t know. One day a bear came to my uten, sat me down and rushed off. He rushed me through mountains and rivers, brought me to a high mountain, on the top of which there was a lake. The bear called a big pig from the lake. I don’t know how I ended up on her back, I don’t know how we got into the water, I don’t know how I ended up with you.
“There is a village at the coincidence of two ridges; your parents migrated there. Every year, every month, your father came quietly to check on you and see how you were living. They didn’t completely abandon you, they were worried about you, they checked on you all the time. Now you have become a real person, you have become a man. Once you become a man, you will take a wife and have children.
- But where and how will I go, grandfather?
- It’s okay, you’ll find out. I won’t let you go alone, but I’ll give you a man to accompany you. This man will take you to your parents, they have become old. One person's little children will be running around there - these will be your older brother's children, and he himself will be there.
Our man doesn’t believe it, but doesn’t say anything against it.
“Your mother dried up completely from grief and cried all her eyes out for you.” Tomorrow, as soon as you get up, you’ll go.
The old man said this, after his words a man enters the house.
- What is your name? - asks our guy.
- I don’t know, I live without a name. What's your name?
— My name is Nerchanykan the wrestler. My father is Umuslindya-lonely, my mother is Sekankan-earring. How is it that you still live without a name? I will take you to your mother and father, they will give you a name. If they call you by another name, not given by them, they will not recognize you, they will think: a stranger. When we arrive to them, you will tell them about yourself, then they will recognize you and tell you your name.
- I'll tell you if I find them. I just don’t know where to go: either towards sunset, or towards the midday sun, or towards sunrise.
- It’s okay, we’ll go tomorrow and find a way to them.
They fed our man, he spent the night, and in the morning that man asks:
-Can you ride a deer?
-What is a deer? - our man asks. - I've never seen a deer.
“There are deer with four legs, two eyes and antlers,” his new friend answers.
We went outside and saw two saddled deer standing. The man showed how to mount a deer, we sat down and drove off.
Well, a deer is a deer, it's lucky. They drove and drove, then his friend said to him:
- It’s very far from the mouth of your river. A strong man can travel for four months. And for people like you and me, it’s a year to go. Now let's go quickly, whip up the deer. We'll go so fast that you'll hear a whistling sound in your ears. Hold on tight.
Well let's go! Closing his eyes, our man braces himself with all his might, afraid of falling. They ride, they jump, they jump. They jump so fast that you can only hear the whistling in your ears. The mouth of a large river appeared in the distance. The village is big there. There is one house at the very edge of the village.
“This is your parents’ house,” says the friend. - You go into the house, first listen to them, then tell them about yourself.
We drove up and tied up the deer. They entered the house.
An old man and an old woman are sitting there. We said hello. The old woman fed them, the old man told about himself. Then he asks: “Where are you from and who are you?”
“In the wooded mountains, in the very middle of the Middle Land, on the banks of one big river,” says our man. “I don’t know either my mother or my father; I always lived alone.” When it rained, he drank the raindrops while lying on his back. There was a river nearby, but I never went down to it, I never tried river water. One day a bear came to my uten, spoke humanly, and took me on himself to a round lake at the top of a large mountain in order to make me human. I don’t remember where and how he took me. They climbed mountains, swam across rivers, galloped from mountain to mountain and arrived at a big mountain. At its top there was a large lake. The water in the lake became agitated and a huge pig came out. The bear asked her to bathe her in his lake so that I could become a real person. How I found myself on the back of a pig, how I went down into the water on it - I don’t remember anything: either I fell asleep or died. I used to be small, the size of a two-year-old child, I had a large round belly, because of which I never fell on my side. Having sank into the lake on the back of a pig, I became a normal person. That's how I got big. And this man brought me here.
Here the old man says:
- After all, you were a freak and a bully. At the age of ten he was less than two years tall. Your mother did not stop crying from such grief, she was tormented, killed. Then we decided to leave you and leave. They thought an evil spirit, a werewolf, had taken possession of you. But after leaving, every month I went to see you. How did you live alone, were you scared?
- No, I wasn’t afraid.
“I am your father,” says the old man. - Now you have become a normal person, live well, return to your native home - uten, who gave you a soul. When you were still in your mother’s womb, I thought: “A boy, a heroic Khurken, a man, will be born
He will be one of the men." And then I prepared a name for you, your name is the hero Barrel, who never fell on his side.
This is how the hero Bochok found his father and mother. The mother began to fuss with joy, treating her son, and began to move and run so quickly, as if she had grown wings. Our man went to visit his brother. He has a lot of kids, running around the house and playing. His brother tells him: .
“I’ll go with you, we’ll live together.”
- How are your parents?
“When they get old, we’ll come for them.” They are accustomed to this land, there are a lot of people here, they will not be bored.
Then the father, listening to what the elder brother was saying, said:
“Having seen my son, having met my son, wherever he goes, I will follow him. Even if he doesn’t want to take it, if I follow his trail, I’ll follow him. Even if he doesn’t recognize me as his father, I will follow him.
Here the mother says:
- How can I leave my child who has suffered so much, who has suffered so much? How can I let go of someone for whom I have cried so many tears? How can I live without him?
- Why did you leave me then, leaving? If it weren't for the bear, I would forever be a freak with a big belly.
“We didn’t really abandon you, it was necessary.”
Well, we're all on our way. The old mother was happy and clapped her hands: seven ready-made bundles of deer appeared. They mounted the reindeer and rode off. We arrived at the native place of the man who was accompanying our man, and the man’s uten had already collapsed, they had been driving for so long.
In this legend, deer are the mother’s dowry, the dowry of the wife of the hero Bochka. Their wives bring deer with them as a dowry to the foot warriors.
“Well,” thinks our man, whose name is the hero Bochok, who has never fallen on his side, “how much time he lost because of me. And he was left without a home because of me.”
And the old mother released the deer, then clapped her hands and instantly a chorama-du made of gold appeared. They stopped at this place, organized games and dances in honor of the return of their comrade to their homeland.
The next day the brother says: ‘
— You talked about a pig that lives in a round lake at the top of a high mountain. Let's go there.
- For what? - asks the hero Bochok.
“I want to see what kind of mountain this is.” Is she far away, is she close?
- How will we go?
- Let's go with both feet. Evenk, who lives in the Middle Land, walks with his own two legs. This is a bird that has wings and can fly. And the man walks.
“Okay,” agreed the hero Bochok.
“And you, my younger brother, put on your best clothes tomorrow.” I can wear simple clothes, I’m married.
In the morning they dressed the hero in beautiful clothes. The hero Bochok became handsome and taller than his elder brother. They set off on their journey. The brother walks so fast that the hero Barrel has to run after him. Brother walks at a walk, and Bochok runs at a run. And this is how they walk, and this way they walk. They walked for half a month, but only reached the foot of that mountain. They began to climb up. They climb and climb. It took us two whole months to climb the mountain. Barrel thinks:
“But the bear quickly reached the mountain. It turns out it’s a very long walk on foot.”
We climbed the mountain. At the top there is a large round lake. Brother asks:
- How do we get into the water? Cold water, perhaps?
- Yes, I don’t remember anything, and I didn’t have time to feel anything.
“Well, hold on to my neck,” says the brother. “Just hold on tight, I’ll swim.” Close your mouth tightly so that no water gets into your mouth, otherwise you will accidentally drink water. You can't drink this water.
Barrel sat on his brother, grabbed him by the neck, and doesn’t remember what happened next. He woke up and saw: he was riding on a huge pike. Everyone goes down and down into the water. They sank to the very bottom of the lake. Looks: the earth is like Middle Earth.
- Well, how do you feel? - asks the brother. — Did the water get into your mouth?
- No, everything is fine. They sat down to rest.
“I brought you here then,” says the brother, “so that I could get you a wife.” It is on this land that your intended was born. Since ancient times, from here, from this land located at the bottom of the lake, we have taken wives for ourselves. The best of women, the beauties of beauties, are born here.
Bochok looked around and saw no signs that there were people here. But how good this land-country was! The grass is green, the sun is bright. ,
“You see,” says the brother, “there stands chorama-du.”
- Where? - asks Bochok, looks and sees nothing.
- What kind of eyes do you have? - the brother says with annoyance. - Look better: the red gold chorama-du is glistening in the sun.
They went to the house and stopped at the door. A conversation can be heard inside. Then they hear:
“If we have guests, come in; if there are people passing by, go ahead without disturbing us.”
We went into the house. They sat down and began to talk about themselves. Barrel told how he sank to the bottom of the lake. And a young woman sitting in the chorama-du says:
- This pig is a man. It happens that you too can become four-legged. And you can become a pig. Then the girl went outside. Then the door opened, our men thought that now this girl would come in. They look and there is a pig at the door
enters. Somehow she squeezed herself into the door, her nipples dragging on the ground. Bochok looks and is surprised. And the pig entered the house, when it began to pass by the hero Bochka, and lightly touched him with its tail. She hit his leg with her tail. Barrel immediately lost consciousness. When he woke up, it turned out that he had turned into a hog and was following the pig. They played, frolicked, then turned into people, agreed with each other and got ready to go.
- How are we going to go? - asks Bochok.
“You’ll find out tomorrow,” answers the betrothed, the one who turned into a pig.
The next morning we got up, the girl clapped her hands - all the things packed themselves. We went outside. Again she clapped her hands and a multitude of croaking deer appeared. They sat on the deer. The girl clapped her hands - the deer themselves were distributed into nine bundles. The deer's wings have grown. Anyone who saw them driving might have thought that caravans of ducks and geese were flying. Deer are flying like geese, only hoots can be heard from all sides. They fly, they fly. They fly and fly. Barrel looks down - below, a huge chorama-du sparkles with gold. They landed at this dwelling. They come in, and in this chorama-du the mother and father of the hero. Mother says:
“Okay, I’ll have a nice daughter-in-law.” We need to have a wedding. Call people. You need to call good people. From the upper sky, Irai Bug, the person holding power in his hands must be called. The person who manages the sun must also be called. Seven seas-earth, Lam Buldyar earth, nine thousand people must be called. Having gathered all the respected people, we will celebrate a wedding for our son.
Here the bride says:
- Grandma, don’t call anyone. I have neither mother nor father. We ourselves, having given each other consent,
The bride addresses her husband's mother, calling her grandmother. The hero's mother Bochka is a woman of her kind.
we will live. We will not leave this land anywhere. Maybe my husband will go on trips somewhere, but I am destined to sit and live in one place. Why am I telling you this - all these people, whomever you want to invite, have all wooed me. The man of the seven seas-earth Lam Buldyar, called, stood at the door of my choram-du for seven months, asking to marry him. We don't need a wedding. We will live well - people will come to visit. We will greet them with kindness, a good, good reputation about us will spread across the earth.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru