This was a long time ago, back in the days when all people were brothers and lived in peace. One tribe of nomads, like migratory birds, wandered across the Sahara, where the day is full of heat and the night is cool. At the head of the tribe was a venerable old man with a long white beard. He thought a lot, fingering his amber rosary and drinking strong coffee. No one knew exactly how old he was, but he was very old, and everyone respected and revered him.
So, the chief of the tribe was sitting one day in front of his tent on a prayer rug, watching the children who were chasing each other, emitting shrill screams. And suddenly he saw a Tuareg (Tuareg is a Berber nomad.), dressed in a burnous, and with a voluminous bundle in his hands.
The Tuareg approached the old man, greeted him respectfully and carefully lowered his burden to the ground.
“O almighty sir,” he turned to the elder, “look what I found at the source!”
Having said this, the man began to untie the rope, so long and so white that only the gods could weave it. Finally, he opened the package, and the surprised people saw the face of a sleeping child.
She was a lovely girl of two or three years old. Tight white curls framed her face. How beautiful she was! The girl opened her unusually blue eyes and smiled cheerfully. Then she pulled out her little hands and extended them to the noble old man, who immediately took her in his arms. The girl began to play with his long beard, babbling and laughing. The people who had gathered to look at the amazing find fell silent in admiration. Who is this child? Where did it come from near their camp?
The old man tried to talk to the little girl, but she did not understand anything.
Well, what should I do? The nomads kept the child with them, believing that she was sent to them by the Almighty.
The girl grew up loved by everyone. But the strange thing is that she did not speak, she explained herself only by signs. However, everyone understood her well. Most often, her games were shared by the orphan Ismail, he followed her everywhere and fulfilled all her wishes. So they grew up together and were never separated.
The years flew by unnoticed, and now the foundling girl is already eighteen years old. She was distinguished by rare beauty and also had a gentle disposition, so that there was no person who did not love her.
But here’s what’s strange: for some time now she began to disappear somewhere every evening, and the next morning she appeared fresh and pink. The girl returned dressed in beautiful dresses the color of the sun, blue sky or silver moon. Diamonds sparkled in her hair, and her delicate feet were shod in golden sandals. Where did she go? People wondered this way and that, but in vain.
Several Tuaregs tried to penetrate the girl’s secret. They followed her, but as soon as she approached the source where she was found as a child, they lost sight of her. And as soon as they approached this source, an irresistible drowsiness attacked them. People fell to the ground as if they had been knocked down and fell asleep soundly.
Ismail, who loved his girlfriend with all his heart, was deeply upset to see her disappear somewhere every evening. One day he offered to accompany her, but she flatly refused and even furrowed her eyebrows angrily. Then he decided to follow her secretly.
One day he entered her tent while the girl was sleeping and tied a long, very long thread to the edge of her cape, then went out, hid and began to patiently wait for her to wake up.
The day began to fade into evening, and the girl, as usual, went to the source, not suspecting that she was dragging the glorious Ismail along with her. She walked for about half an hour and finally came to the source. The girl sang a strange and very beautiful song. Immediately a goldfish appeared from the water. The girl took it in her hands and, taking off her shoes, immediately disappeared with her into the depths of the source. Hiding behind a rock, Ismail saw his girlfriend disappear. Shocked, he
continued to wind the thread onto the ball, surprised that he did not feel the slightest desire to sleep. He approached the source. Then the thread went into the water. The young man took off his burnous and babushi, placed them next to the girl’s sandals and bravely entered the water. That's all. He disappeared, as did his girlfriend.
What happened to them? Nobody knew. People found at the spring the clothes of a young man and the sandals of a beautiful girl, on which lay two magnificent roses made of stone. To this day, nomads say that these roses are the souls of young people.
That is why the people of the desert treat these stones with love, believing that they are the souls of those lost in the Sahara, where everything is a mystery.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru