One day, when Sosruko saddled Thozhey to set off, Sataney looked at her ring and saw that the golden ring had become the color of blood. In anxiety and fear, the mother came out to her son and said:
- Don't leave today. Your path is reflected in my ring with a bloody stripe.
- Think, mother, what are you saying? - Sosruko was surprised. - Can I, Nart, postpone the trip just because the gold ring changed its color out of boredom?
“Don’t leave, my boy,” Sata repeated to her. “It’s your bloody armor reflected in my ring.”
“That’s enough, mother, jokes,” Sosruko smiled.
- I'm not joking, my boy. Don't leave: enemies are waiting for you.
- So much the worse for them. I cannot, out of fear of battle, hide behind your hem and force my enemies to be bored while waiting to meet me.
- Don't laugh, my son. If you go, you will be killed.
- Well, so be it. Life is not given to us forever. And why do we need eternal life when it is unglorious? Better death and eternal glory!
“I know, my boy: once you decide on something, you will stubbornly stand your ground.” But remember: if you see a find on the road, don’t pick it up. Even if my head, my son, lies in the dust, do not lift it, I conjure you!
- Why shouldn’t I pick up anything on the road?
- Because in the bloody shine of my ring I distinguish some things.
“All this, mother, is empty nonsense, but here’s my filial word to you: I won’t pick up a single find along the way.”
Having promised so, Sosruko left. I drove for a long time, galloped for a long time, and then I saw a tall flowering tree in the middle of the road. At the foot of the tree, simple rawhide dudes fought with saffiano leather dudes. The rawhide dudes rushed to the top of the tree, but the morocco dudes did not let them in. As soon as the rawhide ones rushed towards the fruits and leaves, the morocco ones caught up with them and pulled them down. And here’s what’s surprising: when the morocco trees reached the top of the tree, the leaves began to fall off and the fruits began to dry out. And if at least one of the rawhide dudes managed to reach the top, the tree bloomed again.
The amazed Sosruko approached the tree and scattered the brutes in different directions with the handle of his whip. But the dudes came together again and continued their fierce struggle.
Sosruko drove on. He thought about this miracle for a long time until he saw another, even more amazing one. He saw two old barrels on the road. One was full of light sano, which shimmered over its edges. The other barrel was empty, and it was spinning around a barrel filled with light sano. She spun, spun, turned over, bent over to the full barrel, and it stood motionless, as if it did not notice the empty barrel. Sosruko picked up the full barrel and tipped it over the empty one. But not a single drop of light sano spilled from a full barrel into an empty one.
Sosruko drove on, amazed by this miracle, until he met an even more amazing miracle. He saw the rope. Sometimes it stretched to its full length, sometimes it twisted into a knot. When Sosruko approached her, she stretched out, blocking the rider's path. As soon as Sosruko drove further, the rope tied itself in a knot again. Sosruko grabbed the end of the rope and pulled it behind him, and then threw it. The rope tied itself in a knot again and lay in front of Sosruko.
Sosruko thought for a long time about this miracle and with this thought he entered the ancient Nart village. Sosruko would be good for everyone if he were not a welcome guest for many wives and girls. And in this ancient village there lived a girl for whom Sosruko was a welcome guest, and Sosruko decided: “I’ll visit her, and tomorrow I’ll go to Khasa.”
As soon as Sosruko entered the yard, barking was heard. An old dog lay on the threshold and slept. Who was that barking? The unborn puppy, lying in the womb, barked. This miracle seemed to Sosruko the most amazing, but when he, having tied his horse to a hitching post, passed by the room in which the girl’s parents lived, he was even more surprised. He looked out the window and saw sparks flying out of the old woman’s mouth, and snakes crawling out of the old man’s mouth and crawling back in again.
Sosruko, shocked, entered the girl’s room. The beauty was sleeping. To wake her up, Sosruko put his hand on her right shoulder and felt that her shoulder was burning like fire. Sosruko touched his left shoulder - it was cold as ice.
The girl woke up from the touch of Sosruko’s hand. Seeing him, she was delighted and said:
- Be a guest! “But looking at his face and realizing that it was sad, the girl asked:
- What grief oppresses you, Sosruko?
- If you only knew how many strange, incomprehensible, amazing things I encountered on my way! - said Sosruko. “I haven’t seen anything like this since I put my foot in the stirrup and sat on my horse!”
- What surprised you? The Narts say that the most amazing thing on earth is you, Sosruko!
- How much do the Narts know, how much have they seen in their lifetime! They didn’t even see how the one-eyed giants fought, throwing mountains at each other!
- Tell me what miracle surprised you. Maybe I can ease your worries.
Sosruko told the girl about a tree, at the foot of which the rawhide dudes were fighting with the morocco. After listening to her lover, the girl said:
- Why are you surprised by this miracle? You have seen two hostile races. Dudes made of rawhide are a poor race, dudes made of saffiano leather are a rich family. The top of the tree that dudes are trying to reach is life itself. It means that there will be a war between the poor family and the rich, and the poor family will win, for when the morocco buds reach the top of the tree, the fruits die, and when the rawhide buds reach the top of the tree, the fruits bloom.
- How wise you are! — Sosruko admired. - Now explain to me another miracle.
And Sosruko spoke about two barrels - empty and full of light sano. The girl answered simply:
- The empty barrel is spinning and spinning, but the barrel full of light sano is motionless and does not want to bend towards it. This means that the one who lives in contentment does not understand the one who is in poverty and does not want to help him.
Sosruko, admiring the girl’s intelligence, told her about the rope. The girl explained this miracle:
- The rope is your mother's umbilical cord. You set out on a journey against the will of Satan, and she, seized by a bad feeling, tells you with this rope: “Do not move away from your mother’s umbilical cord, Sosruko!”
“I understand,” said Sosruko. “Now explain to me what it means to have an old dog sleeping on the doorstep and a puppy barking in its womb?”
- This means this: children will surpass their parents, descendants will be smarter and stronger than their ancestors.
“It turns out that a miracle is not a miracle if you explain it,” Sosruko said and told his beloved about what he saw in her parents’ room. The girl replied:
“My father separated two young souls; he refused to marry my younger sister to a shepherd. Therefore, the whip that he hung over his bed turned into a snake and tormented him. And if we talk about my mother, then when she was called to cry for the deceased, she cried feignedly, not from the heart. That's why sparks fly out of her mouth.
- You are truly smart! - Sosruko exclaimed. - Explain to me the last miracle. Why does your right shoulder burn like fire, and your left shoulder cold like ice?
The girl was silent for a long time before answering, and answered like this:
- I both love and dislike you. One half of my heart still belongs to you, but the other tells me that you come to me only for fun, and then only when you gallop past my house, and I try to stop loving you.
Ashamed, Sosruko turned away from the girl and looked at the yard. The day was clear, it was approaching noon, but suddenly the sky became clouded, a storm arose, black crows flew to the roof of the house and began to beat their wings on it.
- What does this mean? - asked the alarmed Sosruko. For a long time the girl did not want to answer him. But since Sosruko was offended by her, she said:
- These crows are a bad omen. Someone is planning evil against you, Sosruko, and you will die.
“The time of my death has not yet come!” - Sosruko exclaimed. “More than once people prophesied my death, they predicted its time and timing, but the time passed, and I remained alive, and those who prophesied my death died long ago themselves.
“Sosruko, don’t rank me among the foreigners, don’t compare me with the chints,” said the girl. - Listen to me. If you are determined to hit the road today, then go to your mother.
Sosruko got angry, went out, untied his horse, jumped on it and shouted to the girl:
“I’m not one of those husbands to whom the mother says, “Don’t leave,” and the beloved, “Come back to your mother.” It would be better if I died, but I will not agree to live even one day in fear of the enemy.
Having said this, Sosruko went to Khasa Nartov. On the road he saw a discovery: red silk fetters. Sosruko bent down to pick them up, but Tkhozhei neighed:
-Have you forgotten what promise you made to your mother?
“Oh, my Tkhozhey,” said Sosruko, “I have never once entangled you in silk, but don’t you really deserve this?” Let's lift it!
“I don’t need silk fetters!” - said Tkhozhey and galloped on. How long or how long did Sosruko travel, but let the sons of those who listen to our story go just as fast! Sosruko saw on the road the handle of a whip, not a simple one, but a three-horned one, trimmed with gold and silver. Sosruko bent down to pick it up, but Tkhozhei did not let the rider pick it up and galloped past.
Sosruko rode for a long time, although, as always, he rode quickly, and when he approached Mount Harame, he saw a golden helmet in the middle of the road. The rider liked this helmet, which sparkled like the sun, so much that he leaned towards it and wanted to pick it up. Thozhei neighed:
“Have you forgotten what promise you made to your mother?”
But Sosruko picked up the helmet and put it on, saying:
- I can't leave him on the road. This is not just a golden helmet, this is a helmet made from the rays of the sun! Don’t be sad, my Thozhey, I’m not afraid of anyone. Tlepsh himself hardened me, holding me by the thigh with tongs, so only my thighs are vulnerable. I can push the steel wheel of the sled with my hands, my forehead, and my chest, but if they tell me: “Push with your hips,” then the wheel will cut off my legs. This is where my weak point is, Tkhozhei. Where is your weak point?
The horse neighed with sadness and reproach:
“You shouldn’t have, Sosruko, loudly named your weak spot.” And don't force me to do this.
- Let the dogs eat you, coward! - Sosruko got angry. - What do I hear from my loved ones - from my mother, from my beloved and from my horse!
“Okay, I’ll tell you,” Tkhozhei neighed. “My weak spots are my soles.” Not a single animal in the world can compete with me in the race, death will run after me - it won’t catch up, but I can’t jump over the stones for a long time. My soles will break, and I will turn from a fast racer into a crawling creature.
As soon as Tkhozhei said these words, the golden helmet that Sosruko had put on his head disappeared. Thozhey asked:
“Is the golden helmet still on your head?”
And when Sosruko realized that the helmet had disappeared, he shuddered, and Tkhozhei felt it. The faithful horse said:
“It’s not for nothing that I warned you: you shouldn’t talk loudly about your vulnerable spot.”
Sosruko did not answer the horse and continued on his way. Soon he arrived at Khasa, arriving in sadness and confusion.
* * *
On Khas that day there was neither Nasren Longbeard, nor Ashamez, nor Bataraza - not one of the noble Narts. Only the ill-wishers of Sosruko gathered on Khasa - the Narts from the clan of Totresh, and the one-eyed giants - the old enemies of Sosruko - also gathered. They rained down curses on Sosruko. We started:
— Is Sosruko defeating us with deception and cunning?
- Sosruko took the fire from us!
- Sosruko took the millet from us!
“Sosruko instilled such fear in us that we fear him more than the god of gods!”
And the ill-wishers of Sosruko from the clan of Totresh, envious of his glory, do not lag behind the one-eyed:
- The son of an unknown shepherd sucks!
- Sosruko defeats us in battles, games and dances!
- Sosruko will destroy us: he wields the sword Tlepsh!
- Sosruko is a welcome guest of Nart wives and maidens!
- Sosruko gave the drink of the gods, the light sano, to all people, instead of giving it only to the Nart noble knights!
And all the foreigners who were in awe of Sosruko, and all the Narts from the clan of Totresh, who were jealous of his glory, who wanted to take revenge on him for the death of Totresh, united their voices:
- Let's kill Sosruko! He should not be on earth!
But when Sosruko arrived at Mount Haram, the evil Narts fell silent, for it is a shame for a person to be at one with another. The foreigners shouted:
“Hey, rootless Sosruko, our eternal enemy, listen to what we say: don’t be Sosruko on earth!”
- Hey, brainless foreigners, enemies of man, I accept your challenge! - Sosruko shouted.
- Hey, Sosruko, whose body is invulnerable, whose horse is out of reach! If you are a brave man, push Jean-Cherch, push him to the top of the mountain! - the inyzhi shouted and threw a steel wheel with sharp spokes from the top. It flew down as quickly as on the day when Sosruko first appeared on Khasa Nartov, and with the same force as on that day, Sosruko pushed him away with his damask palm. Jean-Cherkh returned back, and again he was thrown off by the foreigners, but Sosruko pushed the wheel away with his damask chest and threw him with force upward, to the top of the Harama. For the third time they launched the wheel along the cliff, and for the third time Sosruko returned it to the top, pushing it away with his damask forehead.
The other people were in confusion, and the ill-wishers from the Totresh clan were filled with fear. They shout, curse each other, but cannot kill the damask sled. At this time, the old woman Barymbukh, the eldest in the Totresh family, appeared on Mount Harame. Even on the day when she saw Sosruko in the cradle, she hated the son of Satan. Sosruko grew quickly, but Barymbukh’s hatred of him grew even faster. Now she decided to take revenge on him for the death of Totresh. This sorceress turned into silk fetters on the Sosruko road, but Sosruko did not lift them. Then Barymbukh became the three-horned whip handle, but Sosruko did not lift the whip. Then she turned into a golden helmet, and Sosruko picked it up and put it on his head. The helmet disappeared when Sosruko named his weak spot - that’s all the insidious Barymbukh needed to find out!
The sorceress shouted to the Narts from the clan of Totresh and the one-eyed giants:
“My children, if you want to kill Sosruko, then tell him to push Jean-Cherch away with his hips!”
They heard the words of the sorceress and Inyzha, the sledges from the clan of Totresh heard, they heard, made a noise, rejoiced, shouted:
- Hey, Sosruko, hey, damask sledge, whose blow with the bottom is worthy of surprise, whose blow with the chest is worthy of a song, whose blow with the forehead is worthy of glory! If you are a brave husband, then hit the wheel with your thighs!
Sosruko was in ecstasy with his strength and in anger because of the baseness of his enemies. Anger made him hot, he was burning. And when Jean-Cherkh flew up to Sosruko, he hit the wheel with his hips - and the wheel cut off both his legs.
Sosruko’s ill-wishers rejoiced. They drew their swords and ran down from the top of the Harama. Sosruko crawled on the ground and shouted:
- My faithful horse, where are you?
Tkhozhey galloped up, fell next to Sosruko, lay down with his back to him and said:
- Hurry up, Sosruko, hurry up and climb on top of me!
Sosruko gathered his strength, strained it, climbed onto Thozhei’s back, and the faithful horse galloped away. The Inyzhi began to throw stones at him, the evil Narts shot a rain of arrows at him, but Tkhozhei carried away Sosruko, carried him away to his mother.
The Narts from the Totresh clan are in alarm, others are in fear, and the faithful horse gallops faster than the storm, carrying the rider away from death.
Here Sosruko says to the horse:
-Where are you taking me, Tkhozhei? And why are you taking me away from my enemies? I don’t have strong legs, but I have steel arms, I have a heart that burns like a hundred hearts. Come back and let me take another look at my enemies. I will look at them, and they will not open their eyes, I swear to you!
- You can't go back! - the horse neighed.
“Come back, come back, Tkhozhey!” Sos begs with his hand. “I have never fled from an enemy before.” The world doesn't remember me showing them my back. The same, my dear horse, my faithful horse, do not disgrace me, do not make me die twice - from wounds and from shame, come back, The same, come back!
But Tkhozhei does not obey the legless horseman and takes him to Satan. And the Narts from the clan of Totresh shout and curse, and the one-eyed giants cry, and then the sorceress Barymbukh exclaimed:
- Narts from the clan of Totresh, may your entire clan perish! Why are you letting Sosruko out of your hands alive? Why are you shouting, you fools, why are you crying? Better drive Tkhozhey into the river, make him gallop along the rocky bed!
The evil souls managed to accomplish an evil deed; the enemies forced Tkhozhei to flee along the rocky bed of a shallow river. Soft as wool, soft were the soles of the mighty horse, and like a fish in the river, his soles were broken, he was weak and helpless. But the horse is not a fish, the strength of his spirit is stronger than the strength of his body, and the horse galloped on its stumbling legs until it fell. Having fallen down, he said:
- Now I'm going to die. Take off my skin and hide in it. In my shoes, you can fight your enemies for another seven days.
Thus died the faithful horse Thozhey, born from foam. Sosruko took off his skin, entered it and fought with the enemies for seven days and seven nights, shooting deadly arrows at them. On the eighth day the supply of arrows ran out.
Sosruko did not crawl out of the skin of the faithful Tkhozhei. And his enemies were afraid to approach him. So another seven days and seven nights passed. Sosruko was motionless in the skin of his faithful horse. Another seven days and seven nights passed. The enemies thought:
“Sosruko probably suffocated and died.”
The Narts from the clan of Totresh and the one-eyed foreigners, fearing and encouraging each other, approached Sosruko. He lay motionless, his eyes were closed.
- Hey, rootless, hey, son of a whore, you hated us, - finally you died! - the foreigners shouted. Sosruko came to his senses from this scream and opened his eyes. As soon as he opened them, several others, looking at him, died of fear. Here the sledges from the Totresh clan and the surviving inizhi shot arrows at Sosruko. But the arrows bounced off Sosruko. Then the enemies acquired their swords, stood in a row, and a hundred swords turned into one sword, and with this sword a terrible blow was dealt to the legless man. But not even a scratch remained on Sosruko’s damask body. Then the villains decided to bury Sosruko alive in the ground. But still fearing him, they called upon deceit to their aid and said:
- Sosruko, your happiness has defeated us. We can't defeat you. Tell us better, where to take you? Is it to a place where everything grows and is renewed, or to a place where nothing grows or is renewed?
Sosruko loved life. He loved her even more deeply after losing both legs. He knew that everything grows and is renewed on earth, and he said:
- Take me to where everything grows and is renewed!
But the evil Narts and one-eyed giants hated life. Therefore, they thought that only in the Land of the Dead everything grows and is renewed. They buried Sosruko alive in the ground, crushed him with a heavy stone, covered him with earth and erected a huge mound.
And from that time on, every year on that spring day, when Sosruko was buried alive in the ground, animals come to life, rivers are freed from their icy shackles, grasses awaken, reaching for the light of the earth.
And Sosruko has not yet parted with his soul, he is alive, he is also reaching out to the light of the earth. And when he remembers the land that he loved so much, his strength increases tenfold, he rushes upward, into the light, but cannot break through the underground thickness to where everything grows and is renewed - and tears involuntarily flow from his eyes. The springs gushing from the foothills of the Caucasus Mountains are the hot tears of Sosruko. These springs flow to people, and in their damp noise the words are heard:
“Since I am no longer able to help people, let my tears help them.”
This says Sosruko, born from stone.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru