A long time ago, when Lake Sut-Khol was still a small puddle, and Mount Syumber-Ula was a small hill, there lived an old man named Boraldai. He had neither cattle nor a yurt. He wandered from aal to aal. Where I was hungry, I didn’t stay there even a day, and where I was full, I spent nine nights there.
One day the old man lost his way and wandered for a long time in search of aal.
Boraldai walks along, tired and hungry, barely dragging his feet. Suddenly he sees a noisy river running from the mountains, and on its bank there are many sheep tracks. “The big aal is close,” the old man rejoiced. Soon he noticed a black yurt, like a hummock. Boraldai went into it and saw an old woman by the fire.
The old woman poured him tea without milk (Tea without milk was considered a sign of extreme poverty for Tuvans) and asked:
-Where are you coming from, where are you going?
- I’m going from where I was. I'm going where I haven't been before. Tell me, old woman, who camped here?
- Here was the camp of Karaty Khan. For a sip of milk and a handful of millet husks, I served the khan. One day, out of nowhere, an evil spirit - the one-eyed Shulbus - flew in and began to devour the cattle. Khan got scared and migrated, and abandoned me, the old one.
“Aren’t you afraid that Shulbus will eat you?”
- I'll deceive him. As soon as he shows up in my yurt, I’ll close one eye. Shulbus will see that I am also one-eyed and will go away,” said the old woman.
Boraldai asked:
- Tell me how to find the way to the Khan’s aal.
- Go up the hill first. There will be a fork at the pass. So you take the right road. “Don’t go on the left road,” said the old woman.
Boraldai climbed the mountain and saw: a narrow path goes to the right, and a wide road to the left.
“The old woman was mistaken,” Boraldai thought and walked along the wide road.
How long or short did Boraldai walk, and finally he met large flocks of black sheep. He began to look for the shepherd and suddenly saw Shulbus. Boraldai was dumbfounded with fear, and Shulbus looked at him fiercely with one eye and ordered:
- Drive my sheep to the big stone at the foot of the mountain, old man.
The old man drove the sheep to a large stone, the size of a whole cow, and waited to see what would happen next?
Shulbus rolled away the stone and pushed Boraldai into the pit. The old man flies down, and behind him sheep after sheep fall. Boraldai fell to the bottom of the pit and looked: on one side there was a large fireplace, and on the other there was a höne: a tether for lambs and kids.
Shulbus was the last to descend into the pit and ordered Boraldai to tie the sheep to the henna. Then Shulbus handed the old man a large brazier.
The old man was delighted and thought that Shulbus would order the ram to be roasted. And Shulbus says:
- Heat up the fryer. When it turns red like blood, tell me. I'll fry you and eat you.
He said and lay down by the fireplace.
The old man began to heat the brazier, but he himself was grieving. “You, Boraldai, will not see more white light, you will not walk through the mountains and steppes.”
“Well, is it red hot?” Shulbus shouted.
“No, it’s still too early,” the old man answers. After a while, Shulbus shouts again, louder than before:
“Is the brazier ready, old man?”
“No, it’s too early,” Boraldai insists, shaking with fear.
Shulbus got up and saw that the brazier was red, like blood. Shulbus wanted to grab the old man, but he threw a brazier at him and burned out his only eye. Shulbus shouted in a wild voice and began to catch the old man, but he couldn’t catch him.
Then Shulbus guessed that Boraldai was hiding among the sheep, and he began to throw them out of the hole one after another. There are fewer and fewer sheep left. Boraldai doesn’t know how to save himself. He sees that the last ram remains. The old man rushed at his feet and grabbed the wool tightly. Shulbus and threw him and the ram upstairs.
This is how Boraldai found himself free. He gathered all the sheep and drove them to the owner of the poor yurt.
Boraldai stayed with the old woman, and they began to live without need and grief. And blind Shulbus still wanders around the world, looking for Boraldai, but cannot find him.
The old woman poured him tea without milk (Tea without milk was considered a sign of extreme poverty for Tuvans) and asked:
-Where are you coming from, where are you going?
- I’m going from where I was. I'm going where I haven't been before. Tell me, old woman, who camped here?
- Here was the camp of Karaty Khan. For a sip of milk and a handful of millet husks, I served the khan. One day, out of nowhere, an evil spirit - the one-eyed Shulbus - flew in and began to devour the cattle. Khan got scared and migrated, and abandoned me, the old one.
“Aren’t you afraid that Shulbus will eat you?”
- I'll deceive him. As soon as he shows up in my yurt, I’ll close one eye. Shulbus will see that I am also one-eyed and will go away,” said the old woman.
Boraldai asked:
- Tell me how to find the way to the Khan’s aal.
- Go up the hill first. There will be a fork at the pass. So you take the right road. “Don’t go on the left road,” said the old woman.
Boraldai climbed the mountain and saw: a narrow path goes to the right, and a wide road to the left.
“The old woman was mistaken,” Boraldai thought and walked along the wide road.
How long or short did Boraldai walk, and finally he met large flocks of black sheep. He began to look for the shepherd and suddenly saw Shulbus. Boraldai was dumbfounded with fear, and Shulbus looked at him fiercely with one eye and ordered:
- Drive my sheep to the big stone at the foot of the mountain, old man.
The old man drove the sheep to a large stone, the size of a whole cow, and waited to see what would happen next?
Shulbus rolled away the stone and pushed Boraldai into the pit. The old man flies down, and behind him sheep after sheep fall. Boraldai fell to the bottom of the pit and looked: on one side there was a large fireplace, and on the other there was a höne: a tether for lambs and kids.
Shulbus was the last to descend into the pit and ordered Boraldai to tie the sheep to the henna. Then Shulbus handed the old man a large brazier.
The old man was delighted and thought that Shulbus would order the ram to be roasted. And Shulbus says:
- Heat up the fryer. When it turns red like blood, tell me. I'll fry you and eat you.
He said and lay down by the fireplace.
The old man began to heat the brazier, but he himself was grieving. “You, Boraldai, will not see more white light, you will not walk through the mountains and steppes.”
“Well, is it red hot?” Shulbus shouted.
“No, it’s still too early,” the old man answers. After a while, Shulbus shouts again, louder than before:
“Is the brazier ready, old man?”
“No, it’s too early,” Boraldai insists, shaking with fear.
Shulbus got up and saw that the brazier was red, like blood. Shulbus wanted to grab the old man, but he threw a brazier at him and burned out his only eye. Shulbus shouted in a wild voice and began to catch the old man, but he couldn’t catch him.
Then Shulbus guessed that Boraldai was hiding among the sheep, and he began to throw them out of the hole one after another. There are fewer and fewer sheep left. Boraldai doesn’t know how to save himself. He sees that the last ram remains. The old man rushed at his feet and grabbed the wool tightly. Shulbus and threw him and the ram upstairs.
This is how Boraldai found himself free. He gathered all the sheep and drove them to the owner of the poor yurt.
Boraldai stayed with the old woman, and they began to live without need and grief. And blind Shulbus still wanders around the world, looking for Boraldai, but cannot find him.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru