A boy lived in one tent. He went into the forest for a long time and wandered there alone. Mother says:
- Look, son, don’t get lost.
- No, mommy, I won’t get lost. I know...
“Oh, son,” the mother replies, “the taiga is great, you need to know it well.”
- Okay, mommy, okay.
The adults were at work, the boy played near the tent and moved further into the forest. He walked and walked, and suddenly it seemed that the sun was shining from the other side. The boy is back and forth, but there is no plague. And the trees all seem the same. The boy realized that he was lost.
He walked for a long time. I was very tired, sat down on the dead wood, rested, and then walked again. Where - he himself doesn’t know. He comes across a sheer cliff, and underneath it is a deep cave. The boy looked at her and thought: “It will be very bad - I’ll come here.”
I went further to look for my tent. He walked and walked... There were bushes and stones all around. It got really bad. The boy remembered the cave and went back. The cave is large and dark. I collected branches, found moss and made a bed out of them...
The boy is sitting alone. He thinks all sorts of things to himself. He feels sorry for his father and mother - they probably lost him and are looking for him. Suddenly he hears someone coming. And this turns out to be a fox. She must have been hunting for mice. For some reason the boy felt uneasy, and he began to sing a song. And he sang loudly, beautifully, sang about his small homeland and great friends. The fox stopped, listened to the singer and ran back.
The next day there was also a rustling noise very close by; someone was making their way here. He sees a fox again, and not alone, but with a wolf walking next to him. The boy felt uneasy and began to sing a song. The fox and the wolf stopped, listened to the young singer and went back.
The third day has arrived. The boy hears someone's steps again. He sees a fox, a wolf and a bear coming towards him. “Well, now trouble is inevitable,” the boy thought. He felt terrified, and he sang his native song. The fox, wolf and bear stopped, listened to the young and brave singer, bowed to him gratefully and turned back. It became calm again.
One night the boy is sleeping and hears: someone is sneaking up, crawling towards him. He woke up and shouted: “Mom! Dad!..” No one responded to his voice. Meanwhile, the rustling is getting closer and closer, nothing is visible, it’s dark all around. The boy sang his favorite song, and the cave became as bright as day. And then a boy not far away saw a boa constrictor, as long as a rope, scary, it’s impossible to say. At that time, our region was warm, there was no winter, and there were huge snakes in the Sayan Mountains. They were such that they could easily swallow a goose, a ram and even a wild boar along with its sharp tusks.
At first the boy was scared, but then he pulled himself together. I knew: the taiga does not tolerate weak people. Here the owner is only strong and brave. That's what my grandfather said. The boy sings a song, and his song, like a torch, illuminates the cave. But the boa constrictor does not leave, he stands and watches. The boy goes to the exit, the boa constrictor follows him, wriggles and rolls. The boy took two stones from the ground and threw them at the boa constrictor. The boa constrictor became furious, hissed and rushed at him. But then the boy hit his head with a second stone and killed the snake. Without the light of the good song, the boa constrictor would have swallowed him in the dark.
People rode up to the cave on reindeer. There were many of them. The Tofalars searched all over the camps for the boy. The father and mother saw their son and rushed to him with tears, began to hug and kiss him. And the boy, as if nothing had happened, points to the boa constrictor he killed in the duel. People praise and thank the boy.
After this, the boa constrictor disappeared from our region.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru