Do you know why the eyes of the eel are narrow, like slits, and the eyes of the Tyai fish and crucian carp are red? Don't know? So listen. Aunt turtle told this amazing story to the shrimp. And other inhabitants of the waters learned from the shrimp. Maybe not everything here is accurate, but how many years have passed? Nobody will remember.
Once upon a time, a large turtle ruled the entire region of the Bø river rapids. Not because she was smarter or stronger than everyone else, but because she had four legs and could live in water and on land. Once a year, the river people - shrimp, crabs and fish - gathered for a holiday. On this day, they jumped over the Be river rapids in order to choose a commander from among the most dexterous and strong to help the big turtle. The turtle climbed onto a huge cliff and from there judged the competition itself. No one but her could climb there.
It was a good, good time. All the inhabitants of the Be river rapids lived in peace and harmony. And the greatest friendship was between the fish Tyai and the eel. The eel felt very sorry for his friend, the orphan Ty. It was difficult for him, and there was no one to help the orphan. Fish Tyai hired himself out as farm laborers and took on any job to feed himself. Where was there to think about outfits? So poor Tyi walked around all year round in one torn loincloth.
Next to poor Chai, the eel always felt awkward in his beautiful outfit with pink and scarlet braid. Therefore, when there was a wedding in the area or a fair was going to be held, the eel gave his friend Ty a beautiful outfit so that he could show off at the holiday. Taking care of his friend, the eel advised him to practice at the Be river rapids - suddenly he would win the competition and become the commander of a large turtle.
Ty listened to the eel and began to swim to the Be river rapids, practicing agility and jumping.
One day Ty was jumping over the rapids, and suddenly he saw: in the coastal reeds someone’s black eyes were shining - who was spying on him? Ty took a closer look and recognized the beautiful crucian carp.
He wanted to show off his art in front of the crucian carp: now he rushed down to the muddy bottom, now he jumped out and flew over the water, now he slid with the flow, now he swam against the current. The beauty did not take her eyes off him.
Ty is tired. He swam up to the reeds where the crucian carp was hiding and sang:
Raising your eyes to the heavens.
Lonely star like myself.
My silver fish languishes in separation and melancholy.
How sweet is this timidity of yours, my silver fish...
I would take a net with copper sinkers, go out to the river with excellent friends and catch, catch you, my silver fish!
Ty felt that the crucian carp liked this song, and sang even louder:
But I’m afraid of the crocodile’s teeth, And I’m afraid of the dragon’s wrath, My silver fish...
– The crucian carp sighed in the reeds and said:
- You sing well! There’s only one thing I can’t understand: how do you know that there’s a lone star in the sky?
Ty was glad that the crucian carp immediately understood the secret meaning of his song, and asked:
-Who is that there in the reeds? Isn't it the crucian carp's sister?
Karasikha was a modest girl and did not dare come out of the reeds. She just moved her pink lips and said quietly so that only Ty could hear her:
- Brother Ty! When the festival of the competition on the river rapids arrives, dress smarter. I'll be waiting for you!
- Aren’t you cheating? - Ty responded. -Are you really going to wait for me?
The crucian carp didn’t answer anything else, wagged her tail and went into the reeds. Ty spins around, stands still, and looks after the girl. Suddenly he hears her sweet voice coming from afar:
Let three years pass - I’ll still wait.
Let there be four blowjobs - I’ll still feel sad.
We'll wait, dear, Happy time, - I'll wait!
Ty heard this song, was happy, splashed in the river, and when he remembered that the crucian carp told him to dress smarter, he immediately became sad. Where can he get a nice outfit from? I saw Ty’s eel friend sad and became alarmed:
- What's wrong with you, buddy? Ty is silent and does not answer.
“Apparently, you’re tired of jumping over river rapids?” Ty shook his head and didn’t say a word.
“Have you taken a fancy to any girl?” - asks the eel.
Ty perked up and answered:
- You guessed it, brother.
And Ty told the eel how he met the crucian carp, how they sang songs and that she promised to wait for him for the holiday.
“But here’s the problem: the crucian carp asked me to dress more beautifully.” So be a friend, brother eel, do me a favor, give me your outfit for the holiday, and in three days I will return it to you safe and sound.
The eel thought, thought and said:
- Okay, Ty, take my outfit. How can you not help a friend? Just don’t forget to return it after three days.
Ty and the crucian carp had fun for three days. Whoever looks at them is surprised: how good and beautiful the couple is.
Three days have passed. All the river inhabitants went home. It's time for Ty to return his friend's outfit, but Ty doesn't want to think about it. What then should you wear for a walk with a crucian carp? And Ty decided to appropriate the eel’s clothes and set off with his girlfriend on a long journey.
The eel spent all three holiday days in his house, not even showing his nose outside: after all, besides the outfit that he gave to Ty, he had no other clothes. The eel sits, bored, and his only consolation is that brother Ty is having fun. Maybe his outfit will help and his wedding with the crucian carp will go smoothly! What a nice couple they will be!
But the holidays passed, another day or two passed, and Ty still did not appear and did not return the outfit. The eel became worried. His food supplies have all run out, he needs to go hunting, but he has nothing to leave the house with: he’s naked, like the pupa of a silkworm!
The eel is angry with his friend, but he himself is worried about him:
Is Ty really in trouble?
I'm hungry, it's cold. He dug a hole for himself in the coastal mud and began to go out only at night for prey. But as soon as he notices someone from afar, he immediately hides in the river grasses, like a thief. ;For a long time no one saw the eel, and everyone decided that it had died or gone to distant lands. Even the big turtle crossed out his name in his books.
A year has passed. Ty again wanted to try his luck and came to the holiday with a crucian carp. He learned that no one had seen the eel this year, decided that he was no longer alive, and was delighted: Now the beautiful outfit has become mine forever. When the holiday ends, the crucian carp and I will settle in the eel’s house!
Ty and the crucian carp went straight to the eel's house. They swam up and heard someone calling loudly from a hole near the shore.
- A! It's you, scoundrel Ty! Where have you been walking all year? I kept my eyes open, waiting for you. Come here, take off my beautiful outfit!
Ty recognized the eel's voice and became cold. He felt ashamed and scared. He doesn’t know what to do. He looked closely and saw that the eel had completely changed, had lost weight, and didn’t look like itself. Then a trick came to Ty’s head, he turned to the eel and shouted:
- Oh, you pathetic liar! You, robber, have no conscience. Have you ever seen such beautiful outfits in your poor house?
The poor eel never expected this. He shook with offense and almost threw himself at the offender. Yes, I was embarrassed to get out in broad daylight.
And Ty sees that the eel has become silent, completely insolent:
- Hey, you pathetic little eel! Why did you stop talking? Are you ashamed? This time we forgive you. But don't expect mercy next time! Let’s go, honey,” said Ty to the crucian carp. “There’s no point in looking at such impudent people from stinking holes.”
The poor eel got angry and hid even deeper into the hole. He didn’t sleep a wink all night, and the next morning he was at the house of the big turtle. The eel told the turtle everything from beginning to end. She felt sorry for the poor man and decided to punish the impudent man who had violated the laws of friendship.
The big turtle ordered to bring her the scoundrel Ty and gather all the river inhabitants to administer a fair trial.
The big turtle told everyone the story of the eel and Ty, and then shouted loudly:
“I command you, Ty: immediately return the beautiful outfit to the eel!”
The eel put on his outfit, but here’s the problem: he became completely thin, stretched out, he became slippery, his own dress hung on him like someone else’s.
Here all the fish doubted whether it was true that this was the outfit of an eel. The crucian carp noticed this and said:
- Look, neighbors, at the liar eel! Who would believe that this is his outfit? Listen, eel, maybe you lent some clothes to someone else, but forgot?
Uncle carp interrupted the crucian carp:
– Let the fish Ty try on this outfit, let’s see how he looks in it.
Ty tried on the outfit - everything suited him. It turns out that even though the eel is honest, he can’t prove anything. It's a pity for the eel turtle, but there is no evidence against the Tyi fish. I had to let the deceiver go.
So Ty got a wife and won the lawsuit. He began to call the eel a river snake, calling it a pitiful creature from a dark hole.
The eel returned to the cave, does not eat, does not sleep, and keeps thinking about how to take revenge on the offender.
And then one day the current brought a brand new wicker top with two entrance funnels to the eel’s hole. He sees an eel: a Chuoi fish is sitting in it, its fins and scales are torn off.
The eel stuck out and began to question the fish Chuoi, and she said:
“I saw this top, I became curious, I climbed in, but I couldn’t get out.” All fins and scales were torn off. Help me get out of this mess, good eel.
The eel is nimble and slippery; it costs him nothing to get into the top and get out again. But he just can’t get the Chuoi fish out of there. So she breathed her last there.
The eel buried her bones, and he himself swam to the big turtle and said:
- Help me take revenge on the fish Ty.
The eel and the big turtle held a council for a long time. Finally, they agreed to organize a competition at the festival: whoever climbs through the top, instead of the big turtle, will be the ruler of the entire region of the Be river rapids.
The holiday has arrived. All the inhabitants of the river - crabs, shrimps, fish - gathered at the house of the big turtle, the ruler of the entire region of the river rapids, Be, came out and said:
“I have become old, my children. I want to rest a little before I die. This time the ruler will not be my children and grandchildren, but the one of you who enters this peak three times will come out from there. Do you agree with my decision?
- We agree, we agree! - all the river people shouted. The big turtle carried the top out, placed guards near it - two turtles, so that the top would not be carried away by the current. The river people crowded around the top - whispering, looking at the top.
There are just no people willing to show off their skills: the two sharp peaks at the top are very scary. You can probably get in there if you hit your head hard. But how to get out of there? |The big turtle saw that no one was making up his mind, and asked: |—Who will be the first to dare to climb through the top? Who is the most dexterous? Who is the bravest?
They all stand silently, looking at each other. Suddenly an eel squeezes out of the crowd:
- Allow me!
“Well, eel, start,” the big turtle tells him.
The eel climbed into the top without a run, made a circle in it, and then easily got out. The river people screamed and screamed. The fish Tyi sees how the eel easily got out of the top and got scared. What a blessing, the eel will indeed become the ruler of the entire region of the river rapids, Ty thought. “Then things will be bad for me.” Let me try my luck, is the eel really braver than me? And Ty volunteered to show his ability.
He accelerated from afar, swims, cuts through the waves, pushes off harder - once! - and at the top. The river people screamed and screamed. Ty made one circle at the top, another, a third. He just wanted to get out of there, but ran into a sharp peak. The pain made my head spin. He pursed his lips, pushed away - bang! I ran into another peak!
The river people became alarmed, silence fell, everyone looked at each other. Suddenly they hear someone laughing behind them. They turn around: it’s an eel. His eyes narrowed, he couldn’t stop laughing. The eel says through laughter:
“Friends, this Ty, who violated the laws of friendship, wanted to escape punishment. But the punishment still overtook him! So he will remain at the top to wait for death.
The eel said so and began to laugh again. The more he laughed, the narrower his eyes became. Ty realized that the eel had outwitted him. He jerked again to escape the trap, but only tore off his fins and scales. The deceiver Tyi began to cry.
The crucian carp saw that her husband was crying and also began to roar loudly. They cried like that all day, their eyes became red.
The big turtle took pity on Ty and ordered him to be released from the top.
But since then, all the descendants of Ty and the crucian carp have red, tear-stained eyes. And the eel’s eyes forever remained narrow, like slits. Why am I telling you this, you yourself have seen these fish in our river more than once.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru