A long time ago, a brother and sister lived. My sister was older. Brother is quite a boy. Hunted well. I walked and walked.
One day my sister says:
- Well, you keep hunting, but there is no meat...
He says:
- How come there is no meat? I bring loot all the time. Why are you lying?
The sister lowered her head down. He thinks. Then he reproaches him again:
- There is dried meat. I'm tired of it. Let's get some fresh stuff!
This morning my brother got up and got ready to go hunting. But he didn’t go, but hid in the wood. He wants to see what his sister will do. I didn’t believe there was no meat. She began to tidy up the hut. I took a bucket and went for water. Then she went to the barn, from there she brings fresh meat. My brother sees that the fire is burning and meat is being fried on the fire. The sister dressed up, ran out into the street, and began shouting:
- Come here quickly! My brother went hunting. Come for a walk with me!
Some giant came. She treats him. Hugs him. And in the evening, when it’s time for the brother to return from the hunt, the giant is gone: he’s gone. Sister again for her:
- We have one yukola. There is nothing. What will I cook?
The next morning my brother went hunting. Sokhatogo was killed. I didn’t bring it home, I left it there. He came and said to his sister:
- I killed the elk. You get up early in the morning, take the sledge, bring the meat.
She did just that. And at this time the brother dressed up like his sister, let down his braids, rouged his cheeks, prepared food and shouted:
- Come here quickly! My brother went hunting. Come for a walk with me!
He hears someone answer him:
- Why is the voice different?
- Brother says:
- I'm sick. Come here.
And he took a crossbow himself. As soon as the giant appeared at the door of the house, an arrow flew into his chest. He didn't fall. Turned back. The wounded man walked and walked. Blood flowed along the trail. So he left.
My brother ate everything there was. He put on his robe again, braided his hair and went to bed. When he lay down, he blew on the fire so that there were ashes on it, as if he had been sleeping for a long time. My sister comes and sees blood near the house. I followed the trail and recognized the footprints of the giant.
So she comes home and wakes up her brother. Tells him:
- Why did you kill my husband?
“I don’t know,” he says, “I sleep all the time.”
- No, you killed my husband, your son-in-law. Live alone now, I'll leave.
The sister followed the giant's trail. Then the brother took everything he needed from the barn. Thinks: What will I do? Lived alone. He felt bad, bored, and didn’t like it. I went to look for my sister. Found traces. Walked, walked. He sees the giant's footprint, and next to it is the sister's footprint. Then she took long steps. How so? - thinks. - Why does Sister Kamani walk so wide, like a bear? When I entered the forest, I saw two cubs. They are playing. He snuck up to them and caught them.
“Whose are you?” he asks, “what’s your mother’s name?”
- Kamani.
– What’s your father’s name?
- Byatu.
- So you are my nephews. You know what? You take one of my mittens and tell your mother that you found your uncle’s mitten.
They did just that. The mother didn’t believe it and said:
- Oh, “devils! This is probably my father’s mitten! Why are you lying?
The cubs went down to the lake again.
- Well, what? - Uncle asks...
“She said that we don’t have an uncle.”
-What is she doing?
- She sews.
- Go to her. If she still doesn’t believe it, take the thread from her and bring it to me. And here's my hat for you. Ask her: Did you sew this hat or not?
So they ran.
“They found my uncle’s hat,” they tell her.
“You’re lying,” she says, “this is my father’s hat.” Then they grabbed her threads and ran into the forest. She is behind them with a poker. She ran and ran. Vi-Dit, brother is sitting on a stump. I was very surprised.
“I thought you died of hunger,” she said and took his hand. - Come to us.
There she fed him, and in the evening she said to him:
- My husband will come now. He will probably kill you for hurting him. Hide.
The brother hid near the door and covered himself with skins. Costs. The giant husband came. Doesn't look like a human at all, but speaks like a human:
“I can smell your brother.” The sister got scared:
- I don’t know. I haven't seen him for a long time.
- Why lie? - he says. - Give it here!
He went on his own, rummaging around everywhere, searching. I saw my brother, but did not kill him.
- Uh! Here he is. When did you come? That's good. Don't be afraid of me. Live with us.
So everyone began to live together. Once the owner says:
– Today I found a bear’s den. Wife! You put a white linen on my chest, I’ll go hunting.
“Take me with you,” the brother asked.
“Okay,” says the giant. - Just remember. I will crawl into the den and fight. If you see a white spot at the bottom, it means the bear is crushing me, if the white spot is at the top, it means I’m crushing the bear.
When they arrived at the den, the owner turned into a bear. The brother made a hole at the top of the den and is watching. He sees that the fight has begun. White spot below. Brother stands with a spear. How can I help my son-in-law out? The white spot is below again. Then he took and threw a spear. At this time, the son-in-law was upstairs. The spear hit him right in the chest. Eh, I killed in vain, he thinks. He also hit another bear with his spear. I went home. Almost crying. We need to ask for forgiveness from our sister. He tells her:
- Sister! I accidentally killed your husband. And he killed the bear.
- What should we do? - she says. - Remove the skins, cut up all the meat, eat if you want, I won’t.
He did just that. Then she says:
- That's it. Stay here. Live with your nephews. And I'll leave. I'll go look for a husband.
And she left. He stayed with the cubs. I decided to follow her again. I followed her. He sees that his sister’s trail has turned into a bear’s again. He became scared and returned back. He began to live with his nephews. He made a den for them and said:
– If hunters find you here, do not be afraid. Throw yourself at them and immediately break their spears. The worst of all are the beu (robbers). They always go together. If you see seven at once, it's a beu. Then beware.
The brother stayed to live in the hut. Lived, lived. It was winter. Once he went far away to hunt. At that time, the cubs were attacked by robbers. They had seven copies. The nephews found out that it was beu. The spears were broken. The Beu got scared and ran away. Then they came again and killed the cubs.
Time has passed. An uncle goes to see his nephews. He approaches the den and sees: there are no cubs. What's happened? However, they never came here. I began to follow their trail. He looks at people sitting in a hut. They eat bear meat.
- Why did you kill my nephews? They laughed.
- How so? Can a person be the uncle of little animals?
“People are different,” he says. – These cubs were born from my sister and a giant bear. You have committed a great sin. Now give me a ransom for them. The ransom is this: give me two women, seven boilers and seven robes.
Beu began to think about what to do. Then they agreed. They gave him everything he asked for.
The guy went to his hut. Began to live. He had two wives. Several years have passed. They had children: a son and a daughter. When the son went hunting for the first time, the father gave the order:
- If you kill a bear, do not let your sister eat the meat. May she never sleep on a bear's skin.
It was like that even before, before. The ancient laws were then observed. They had two wives. A woman was not allowed to sleep on a bearskin. If a brother, having killed a bear, gave meat to his sister, it was considered bad, it was bad, it was a sin.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru