There lived a brother and sister. The brother's name was Dzhanym, and the sister's name was Kuara. Dzhanym was famous. He was a real hero; straightforward, generous and courageous. And his sister, Kuara, did not stand out in any way, was inconspicuous next to such a knight as Dzhany.
Janim was not married, Kuara also did not find a groom. One fine day, Dzhanym decided: “It’s enough for me to be single. We must marry the daughter of some decent man! And then I’ll marry my sister too.”
Dzhanym got ready and went to look for a bride. He traveled for a long time, looked for a suitable girl in distant lands for a long time, but did not find one that he liked.
“Well, apparently, it’s not my destiny to be married!” - Dzhanym decided sadly and turned home.
On the way back, he heard that six Adau brothers had a beautiful sister, a wonderful housewife and a jack of all trades. Her brothers live with her, without any household worries. It is unlikely that the giants would have wanted to let her go, much less marry her to a mere mortal. Nevertheless, Dzhanym decided to woo, although he understood that competing with the Adau was no joke.
“No matter what happens to me, I’m a man,” he thought. “I’ll do what I decide.” I’ll send a matchmaker to them for negotiations, let him try to settle the matter amicably. And if things don’t work out peacefully, I will fight the giants, and - come what may!..”
He stopped by one of the Adau neighbors - his friend Ai-lua, the son of Ais. The owner sat the guest down, and Dzhanym told him everything.
- Choose a time when the brothers are hunting and talk to the girl. If she agrees, that's half the success. And if she refuses, ask her to her brothers,” Dzhanym asked his friend.
Ailua, the son of Ais, jumped on his horse and rode to the Adau brothers. He arrives, and there is a girl at home alone. He told her why he came. But the girl did not listen to him:
- Contact your brothers! If they agree, I will marry Dzhanym.
When the brothers returned home, Ailua told them that he had come to marry their sister to Dzhanym. The brothers became thoughtful. The elder said that he would kill Dzhanym for his insolence if he caught him. But others, suppressing their anger, decided:
- Let Dzhanym first show what he is capable of, and then we’ll see.
They answered the matchmaker like this:
- We have only one sister. We cannot marry her off to the first person we meet. You can’t give your sister away just because the groom has a good horse with a saddle and because he is handsome or knows how to dance and sing well. We want to marry her only to a man who could build a house of fish bones with seven rooms. If Dzhanym can accomplish this, let him marry his sister, we will not disdain him, no matter who he is. Ailua returned home and told Dzhanym everything without adding an extra word. Dzhanym realized that no one could build a house out of fish bones. He thought for a long time, but came up with nothing and went home saddened.
Dzhanym returned, gloomy and taciturn, sat down by the fireplace and again fell into deep thought.
Kuara immediately noticed that her brother was not in a good mood, and began to try to get him to tell what happened to him. But Dzhanym remained stubbornly silent.
- All the same, this is a matter that no one can handle! May I grow old thinking about her! - he said.
“I won’t calm down until you tell me everything,” my sister insisted.
Janim was forced to reveal everything to her. Then Kuara exclaimed:
- Janym, let me die for you, but I swear, you shouldn’t despair over such a thing! You will succeed! Harness the oxen and go to the seashore. Collect more red stones; load the cart to the top with them and go to where the adau’s house is. The Atsans live next to him. And opposite the tract where the Atsans live, there is a dry river bed. Pour the pebbles you bring into it.
Then she handed Janym a handful of millet and said:
- My mother gave it to me. I didn't mean to touch him, but I want to help your grief. Take this millet and scatter it at the gates of the atza-nov, just divide the seeds into seven parts. Red pebbles will pull fish bones out of the sand, and the Atsans are good carpenters. True, they do not understand human language, but this millet is a sign that will teach them how to build. If you scatter this millet by this evening, then tomorrow morning you will see a fish house like the Adau want.
Janim was surprised. He never thought, did not expect that his inconspicuous, modest sister could turn out to be such a valuable help. He did everything as Kuara taught him: he collected pebbles and threw them into the old river bed, divided the millet into seven parts and scattered them at the Atsan gate. Dzhanym spent the night in the forest. The next morning he looks: there is a house made of fish bones, and there are seven balconies in it, according to the number of rooms.
Dzhanym boldly went to the giant brothers and, having greeted them, said:
- Look at the house you were talking about, it flaunts in front of you. What will you tell me now?
- What can we say? - the brothers answered. “You still lack a lot.” But we will give up your sister if you go to that forest that is in the east, from where the sun rises. A deer lives in that forest. Every hair on his skin sings its own song. Now, if you skin him and bring him to us, we will marry your sister to you.
Janym had never heard of such a deer. For a long time he thought about how to get it, but could not come up with anything, and returned home with nothing, saddened even more than after the first failure.
Noticing this, Kuara asked:
- What happened? Didn't you like the house made of fish bones?
- No, the house made of fish bones is good, but the Adau brothers gave me another task that no one could cope with.
And he told his sister that they had come up with the adau in order not to fulfill their promise.
Kuara smiled and said:
- Nothing, you can handle this. Only I will have to sacrifice what my mother left me as a dowry. I don’t have a fiancé yet, but how can I not help my beloved brother?
Kuara took out a golden needle and silver scissors from her hiding place.
- Wrap them up and hide them in your bosom. Put the ax in your belt and go to that forest in the east. There you will see a large oak tree. This oak tree is three hundred years old. Its top has already dried up, but below, on the trunk, at the height of human growth, there are several branches with thick leaves. Tap the butt of the ax on the trunk, and then start chopping the branches. The deer will hear the knock and come running. He eats nothing except the leaves of this oak tree. You hide behind the trunk, and as soon as he approaches the tree, throw a needle at his forehead. It will pierce to the bone, and he will stand rooted to the spot. Then you put these scissors to his lower lip, and the skin will peel off the deer on its own.
Dzhanym thanked his sister, carefully hid the needle and scissors, took the ax and went into the forest. There he found an oak tree and, knocking firmly on the trunk, began to chop down a branch. Suddenly some strange, discordant, but pleasant sounds were heard from a distance. They kept getting closer and closer. But then a deer came running and stopped under a tree. Every hair on the skin of this deer sang its own song. Dzhanym, hiding behind the trunk, contrived and threw a needle at the deer’s forehead. He froze in place. Then Dzhanym found himself next to the deer, put the scissors to its lower lip, and the deer’s skin immediately slid off and fell to the ground. The deer was left naked, with only antlers.
“You made a good exchange,” he said to Dzhanym. “You left me one needle instead of a whole skin with singing hairs!” Now, if new fur does not grow on me, I will climb into some cave and live out my life there.
And, knocking the silver scissors out of Dzhanym’s hands, the deer rushed off. No matter how much Janym searched, he never found them. Dzhanym hung the deer skin on the axe, put it on his shoulder and went to the Adau brothers. All the way the skin sang different songs.
Having greeted the giants, Dzhanym said:
- I brought what you demanded. How will you answer me now?
“There’s nothing to do,” answered the Adau brothers. “We’ll have to celebrate the wedding!”
They set a wedding day, but Adau’s sister, sitting in a house made of fish bones, on a deer skin, each hair of which sang its own song, called the brothers and told them:
- Ait, brothers! I didn't think you would be such simpletons. Your only sister, whom you are not for anyone
you got married, now you sell the house and the skin for this. Your sister is worth more. The brothers exclaimed:
- We will burn him in our iron house!
But it so happened that on the eve of her brother’s departure, Kuara saw in a dream that they wanted to lock Dzhanym and burn him in an iron house. The sister jumped up and began to wake up her brother:
- My brother, Dzhanym, you are going on a dangerous journey! When you come to hell, they will leave you. In the morning, run to the Khima-ta stream, find a linden tree that grows on a steep bank, and ask the fox who lives in its hollow what you should do. The fox, above all, will help you - she is at enmity with the Adau.
Without wasting time, Dzhanym hurried to the Khimata stream and found the fox. He sat down next to her and told her everything.
“These Adau brothers have no life for the animals,” said the fox. “They poisoned me more than once.” Now I will settle scores with them. Here's some fresh swamp adardza root, it's always moist. And if you press it down at both ends, so much water will come out of it that it will flood any fire. Hide the root under your dress and don’t waste time, go to hell. Just take reliable comrades with you - as many as the bride has brothers. When you arrive, they will lock you in an iron house and heat it up, but the root will save you.
Dzhanym did just that: he gathered six fellow peers and went. On the way, a fox joined them.
They arrive at the adau, and there are already laid tables there. But the Adau brothers say to Dzhanym:
- Before you sit down at the table, go to the bride, talk to her - she is there, in the iron house - and after the wedding you will move to the house made of fish bones, we will give it to you.
But as soon as Dzhanym entered the iron house, they locked the door and lit a fire under the house. The more the fire raged, the tighter the swamp root gripped Dzhanym, and its moisture cooled the hot walls.
And even before this, the fox warned Dzhanym’s comrades: “When the Adau brothers decide that Dzhanym is already finished, they will take on you.” But you keep ready what I will give you. “You take my claw from the front paw,” she said to one of Dzhanym’s comrades and gave him her claw. “When an adau comes up to you with an outstretched hand to say hello, you, offering your hand, hold this claw between your fingers and plunge it into his palm.” And he won't be able to own a weapon. And you,” the fox said to another comrade, Dzhanyma, “take my tooth,” and she gave him her tooth. “When the Adau approaches you, throw this tooth at him - it will dig into his navel.”
When the third of the Adau brothers approaches you,” the fox turned to the third comrade Dzhanym, “say that you want to give him this ring. As soon as he puts it on, his hand will be removed.
The fox gave the fourth a claw from her hind paw:
- When an adau approaches you, throw this claw at his feet. As soon as the adau steps on him, it will pass through his entire body and come out of his skull.
She gave the fifth comrade a comb.
“When the adau approaches you, grab his beard with a comb, and he will lose all strength.”
To the last one the fox handed the whetstone and said:
- Take this whetstone. If the adau wants to swallow you and opens his mouth, you quickly put this beam on his tongue. Then the Adau language will turn to stone.
Dzhanym's comrades did as the fox taught them and killed all the evil giants. Then they hastened to rescue Dzhanym from the iron house.
And Adau’s sister, making sure that she remained a bob, immediately forgot her arrogance and was happy that Dzhanym took her as his wife.
I was at Dzhanym's wedding feast. And on the way back I turned into a village gathering. There they asked me what news I had heard. I told about Dzhanym, everyone liked it very much, and Mamsyr Dopua took a silver snuff box out of his pocket and gave it to me, saying:
“You should be given a better gift for such an invention, but for now be content with this.”
I was delighted with the gift and put it in my pocket.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru