In ancient times, among our grandfathers and great-grandfathers, they say there lived one hero named Chemen. Always dressed in military armor, he rode on a white horse across the Chuvash land and guarded its borders from enemies. Chemen's heroic fame was loud, he was known far beyond the borders of his native land, and among his enemies there were no hunters to measure his strength and brave prowess.
Chemen lived a long time. But the time has come for the hero to die. Before his death, he gathered all the Chuvash and said:
“It’s time for me to die.” When I die, bury me along with my horse and heroic armor. If enemies attack and you need me, come to the grave and call me: “Chemen! Chemen!”, and I will come to your aid.
The hero died. They buried him as he asked: they dug a large grave in the mountain, dressed the deceased in military clothing and put him on a horse, and placed a shield and sword next to him.
Chemen died, but his glory, his name remained among the people, in his memory. The old people told their sons and grandsons about the hero’s military exploits.
One spring, when young people were dancing in circles near the mound in which Chemen was buried, the guys remembered the hero. We remembered his words passed down from generation to generation about his readiness to come to the aid of his people in difficult times. The young guys really wanted to look at the hero.
“Let's call him,” one of them suggested. The guys went to the mound and shouted in unison:
- Chemen! Chemen!
The earth opened up, and Chemen rode out of the mound on a white horse in warrior clothes and military armor.
The guys were scared, but Chemen didn’t touch them. He set off on his familiar path, traveled around the entire Chuvash land and returned to the mound.
Since then, the Chuvash children have been attacked by pestilence. Both small and big guys are dying and that’s all. The old people gathered together and said to each other:
“It’s Chemen who’s probably sending pestilence to our children, he’s offended that he was disturbed in vain.”
The old people came to the mound, slaughtered the bull, and the children stopped dying.
Since then, a bull has been sacrificed to Chemenya every year.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru