Ide was orphaned when he was little. Grandma Imyal-Pay took him in.
Ide grew up, but was afraid of everything. He doesn’t leave his grandmother’s side, he clings to his grandmother’s hem.
“How can we wean Ide from being afraid of everything, so that he goes fishing, hunts animals, and becomes a brave hunter?” - thought the grandmother.
There was once a good year for pine nuts. Grandma says:
- Let's go, Ide, collect nuts!
- Let's go, grandma!
The grandmother got into a light dugout boat, sat Ide down, put down the gun, pushed the boat - and off we went.
The day was clear. The sun is shining. Taiga makes a quiet noise. The Tym River runs from one sandbank to another. Grandma and Ide arrived, went ashore, climbed the mountain, and went into the taiga.
Birds sing in the taiga. You can hear it far away: the nutcracker is knocking, picking nuts from the cones. Grandmother and Ide began to collect nuts. The cedars raised their heads high and hid their cones in the branches. Old Imyal-Paya hits a twig with a mallet - the cones fall off on their own.
They filled a boat full of nuts, got ready to go home, and the grandmother left one birch bark bag with nuts on the mountain.
- Oh, Ide, you forgot your wallet! Run and get it! - she says.
Ide ran up the mountain. He sees a wallet lying and a gun next to it.
Ide looks from the mountain: the grandmother pushed the boat away from the shore and drove away. Ide shouted and cried:
Why did you leave me, grandma? Imyal-Paya did not even look back once - she quickly rowed with an oar, and soon the boat completely disappeared from sight.
Ide was left alone in the taiga. He started running along the shore, looking for somewhere to hide. I searched and searched and found a hollow. He climbed into it, curled up into a ball, lay quietly, holding the gun to himself.
The sun began to go down, the wind blew, and it began to rain. The taiga is noisy, cedar cones are falling, knocking on the hollow. Ide is scared. He thinks: the animals have come and will eat him. He started screaming in fear:
- Eat everything, just don’t touch your head!
And no one touches him. There's just a knocking noise all around - the pine cones are falling. Ide clutches the gun even tighter to himself.
No matter how afraid Ide was, he still fell asleep. I slept, slept, and woke up. He looks: it has become light, the sun is high, the birds are singing. Taiga makes a quiet noise. Ide felt himself. Is it intact? He extended his left hand - here is the hand. He extended his right hand - here is the hand.
Ide jumped out of the hollow and stood up. He looks: there are cones all around. Oh, so many cones!
Ide began to collect cones and forgot his fear. No one to fear!
Ide collected a large pile of cones, looked at the shore, and saw that his grandmother had arrived. Ide waved his arms at his grandmother and shouted:
- Why did you leave me alone? And the grandmother answers him:
- Don't be angry, Ide. You are human. No one can do anything to you. Man is the master everywhere. Now you won't be afraid of anything!
Ide thought: “Grandma is right. There is no need to be afraid."
Ide made peace with his grandmother. They started collecting nuts again, filled the boat full and went home.
The Tym River runs from sand to sand. The sun is shining high. Taiga makes a quiet noise.
Fine!
Since then, Ide has stopped being afraid. Wherever he wants, he goes alone.
So the grandmother taught her grandson not to be afraid.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru