Every year, on the top of Oshkhomakho, Mount of Happiness, Mazitha, the god of forests and hunting, Amish, the god of animals, Tkhagoledzh, the god of fertility, Sozresh, the god of domestic well-being, and Tlepsh, the blacksmith god, gathered with the god of life Psath. They gathered and drank sano - a wonderful drink, which had sweetness and strength, which inspired the mind and increased courage. This meeting was called sanitary drinking, and every year the gods invited the bravest and strongest man of the earth to it. For this purpose, they invited him so that, having tasted the sweetness and strength of the divine dignity, he would tell people about him. And such a person was considered lucky in the Nart Country.
This is how centuries passed.
A feast was in full swing on the top of Oshkhomakho. Psatha himself, the god of life, was the thamada of the feast. So he stood up and asked:
- Which of the people of the earth will we let try our dignity? Who is the bravest and strongest now?
“Nasren the Longbeard, thamada of the Nart feasts, is the bravest and strongest of people,” said Sozresh, the god of domestic well-being.
“Shauei, son of Kanj, the valiant Nart hunter, is most worthy of the divine drink,” said Mazitha, the god of forests and hunting.
“Gorgonyzh, the permanent swineherd of the Narts, should be our guest,” said Amysh, the god of animals.
“Khimish is most worthy of drying the horn of Sano, for Himish is the best farmer of the Narts!” said Thagolej, the god of fertility.
Then Tlepsh got up from his seat.
“On earth,” he said, “such a man was born that all the heroes you named stand up when they pronounce his name!” Yes, gods, a real husband was born in the Land of the Narts. He tore out my anvil, which was driven into the seventh bottom of the earth. He tore it out and again drove it into the ninth bottom of the earth. He is still young, but the Nart Country has never known a knight stronger than him.
The gods were alarmed.
-What kind of person is this? - they asked.
“His name is Sosruko,” answered Tlepsh. “He is worthy to drain the horn of the divine dignity.”
“Bring this man,” Psatha ordered. And the blacksmith god went after Sosruko and brought him to those feasting on the top of the mountain.
- Little man! - Thamada turned to Sosruko. “Taste our sano, for you are the bravest and strongest in the Country of the Narts.” The people of the earth do not have such a drink. You people of the earth do not know how to make sled. Only we, the gods, own this wonderful, this strong, this sweet drink!
And thamada handed Sosruko a full horn of sano. Sosruko, throwing back his head, drained the horn to the bottom - and the man’s heart leaped, and the world seemed beautiful to him.
- Now go to earth and tell people what our dignity is like! - said Mazitha.
“Tell me truthfully,” Thagoledge added.
But Sosruko stood as if spellbound. The hops awakened his strength. The world seemed wonderful to him. Sosruko said:
“If possible, gods, give me another horn.” What a wonderful drink your sano is!
“You can’t,” objected the thamada. “Our custom is inviolable: a person receives only one horn at our feast.”
But Tlepsh, who loved Sosruko, smiled:
- Let's give him another horn. Let him drink. He is worthy of another horn: he will tell the people of the earth about the divine drink more loudly and cheerfully than our previous guests.
- Let him drink another horn! - exclaimed the god of fertility.
“Have it your way,” said the god of life. “But know this: we are breaking an ancient custom.” Will Tha, the great god of gods, forgive us?
- Forgive me! - all the gods shouted, and Mazitha, the cheerful god of forests and hunting, took the horn and approached the barrel. When he bent down to scoop up the sano, Sosruko approached him and asked:
-What kind of barrel is this?
“This is the barrel of Tha himself, the god of gods.” “Sano is stored in this barrel,” answered Mazitha.
- What a wonderful barrel! - exclaimed Sos Ruko.
“It’s not a miracle in a barrel, baby,” the god of fertility intervened in their conversation. “The miracle is in what’s at the bottom of the barrel—the sano seeds.” The miracle is my strength, which makes sano grow.
When Sosruko heard this, he, as if out of curiosity, came close to the barrel, began to examine it from all sides and suddenly grabbed it with his powerful hands, lifted it above his head and threw it from the top of the Mountain of Happiness to the ground.
“Let not just one person, but all the people of the earth taste the drink of the gods!” - said Sosruko.
And the barrel fell to the ground and broke. A strong, sweet sano flowed like a river throughout the Nart Country. And the seeds that were at the bottom of the barrel, as soon as they touched the ground, immediately turned into wonderful vines, on which there were many small berries, sweet and strong.
- Where do these berries come from? What to do with them? - the inhabitants of the Nart Country were surprised and took the wonderful vines to the wise Satan. At this time Sosruko returned home. He was cheerful. The hops awakened his strength. He told the Narts:
“The gods make sano from these vines: I drank it today on the top of Oshkhamakho.”
Sataney was quick-witted. She put the wonderful vines in a barrel, and pressed down the lid of the barrel with an abra stone.
Less than a year had passed when a violent sano tore off the lid of the barrel along with a heavy abra stone. The Narts tasted what was in the barrel, and the world seemed beautiful to them, and they themselves became cheerful and eloquent.
So, with the help of Sosruko, the Narts learned to make divine dignity. Now not just one person chosen by the gods, but all the inhabitants of the Nart Country tasted the wonderful drink, and every year they held a sanitary drinking ceremony on earth, without needing an invitation from the gods.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru