In the old days, a young man lived in one village. His name was Tughry. He had nothing but a horse. He looked for work in one village and in another, but couldn’t find one. Then he got on his horse and rode off to the far side to seek his fortune.
Tugry was driving, driving, and met a traveler on foot. We started talking. Tughry asked the traveler who he was, where he came from and where he was going.
“I’m going to look for work,” he answered. “What’s your name?” asked Tughry.
- Egry.
- And I’m Tughry. Let's become friends, let's work together, live together.
And they agreed to be friends for life.
Tughry took pity on his friend on foot and invited him to ride a little on horseback. Egry mounted his horse, whipped it with his whip, and rode off. They only saw him.
Tugry gasped: the man who swore to be a faithful friend treated him like the most vile enemy.
But there was nothing to do, Tugry trudged on on foot.
When it began to get dark, Tugry saw a narrow path and walked along it. The path led him into the depths of a dense forest.
Suddenly Tugry saw on the lawn an old stove for flat cakes - a tandoor.
It is still dangerous to walk through the forest on a dark night. “I’ll sleep here until morning,” he thought and climbed into the stove.
And on the lawn where the stove stood, famous animals gathered at night: the Shah of the forest - the lion, the forest viziers - the tiger and the bear, the forest bugler - the wolf, the forest flutist - the jackal, the forest storyteller - the fox.
When the moon rose, a jackal came running and howled. At his call the animals gathered and began to feast. The Shah-Lion came, sat down importantly in his place and went to tell him about all the wonders.
The fox storyteller began the story:
— There is a cave not far from here. I've been living there for ten years now. For ten years I have been collecting all sorts of goods there: carpets, curtains, blankets, clothes... Everything that people have can be found in my house. And how many delicious things I have, supplies!
Tughry in his shelter thought: Wow! It would be nice if I went to visit this fox.
After the fox the bear vizier spoke:
- This is not surprising either. But in our forest there is a tall tree - elm, and under it there are two young sprouts. There is no disease that the leaves of these sprouts cannot cure. The daughter of the Shah of our city has been ill for seven years. The Shah ordered the cry to be called: Whoever cures my daughter, I will give her to him! Anyone who volunteers to heal and does not cure him will be executed. Many doctors had already been executed by the Shah. Now, if someone had picked leaves from elm sprouts, boiled them and given the girl something to drink, she would have immediately recovered.
After the bear the wolf bugler began to tell:
— At the edge of the forest, a Bai herd of forty thousand sheep grazes. I eat two sheep every day. No matter how hard the shepherds try, they cannot catch me. After all, they don’t know that not far away on a hill lives an old man who has a dog. If the dog had been guarding the herd, he would have torn me to shreds.
The tiger vizier spoke:
“The bai the wolf talked about has a herd of ten thousand heads of horses. He grazes at the edge of the forest. I kill one horse every week. There is a white and black horse in the herd. If someone got on this horse, they could catch up with me. It's good that no one knows about this.
The tiger finished his story. Dawn has broken. The animals began to disperse to their lairs.
Now the lawn was empty, and Tugry climbed out of the tandoor. He went and found the elm tree that the bear had spoken about, and picked some leaves from the sprouts.
Then he went to the sheep flock. I found a shepherd, said hello, and asked him how life was. The shepherd complained:
- My problem is bad. A wolf got into the habit of going to the flock and carrying sheep. The owner doesn’t know what he will do to me for this. How can I, poor wretch, get rid of the wolf?
- Don't worry. “I will deliver you from the wolf,” said Tughry.
He came to the old man, asked him for a dog and gave it to the shepherd. The shepherd got rid of trouble. The dog attacked the wolf and tore its skin.
Tughry set off and found a herd of horses. I greeted the herdsman. He complained about the tiger. Tughry advised:
“Saddle the white and black stallion and give me a long thick pole.”
Tughry mounted the stallion, took the pole and began to watch for the tiger on the path.
At night the tiger vizier came and rushed to the herd. Tughry hit the tiger so hard with his pole that the animal fell dead.
The shepherd gave Tughry a stallion.
Tughry mounted his horse and rode to the city. At the city bazaar a herald shouted:
— The Shah’s daughter has been sick for seven years. Whoever cures her, the Shah will make him his son-in-law. And whoever volunteers and fails to cure him will be executed by the Shah.
“I will cure the Shah’s daughter!” said Tughry.
Tughry went to the palace. The Shah allowed a new doctor to see his daughter.
Tughry crushed elm leaves, boiled them and gave the girl a drink. Three days later the girl recovered. The Shah arranged a feast and fun, and married his daughter to Tughry.
- Well, which city should I appoint you as ruler? - the Shah asked his son-in-law.
“I don’t want to be a ruler,” answered Tughry. “Build a house for me on the mountain near the forest.” I will live by my labor.
The Shah was surprised, but did as his son-in-law asked. Tughri and his wife began to live on the mountain.
One day Egry came to Tugry.
“My friend, how did you get all this?” he asked. “You have a house and a yard.” So I stole your horse, I thought I would get rich. And wherever I go, I have no luck.
Tugra did not want to remember Egra’s treachery, and he only said:
“I slept one night in the forest in an old stove and got it all.”
“Show me that place, I’ll sleep in the stove too.”
Tughry told him about the lawn where the animals gathered. When it got dark, Egry climbed into the stove.
Again at night the forest animals came. The forest Shah came - the lion, the vizier came - the bear, the storyteller - the fox came.
- Come on, let's start the stories! Why is my tiger vizier not there? - asked the Shah-Lion. o The jackal rose from his seat:
- No, now we won’t tell anything. Because of our stories, your tiger vizier died.
Then the bear stood up:
“The leaves from our elm tree are also torn off,” he complained.
“And I was left without food,” said the wolf. “The shepherd took the dog I was talking about.” Now I’m afraid to even approach the herd - the dog just maimed me.
- Who dares to talk about our secrets?! - the formidable lion roared. I order you to catch and kill the traitor!
But the animals did not know who was listening to their secrets. The bear began to ask the jackal, and the jackal asked the fox.
And the pheasant shouted: In the oven! - and flew away.
The animals rushed to the stove, pulled out Egra and tore him into pieces.
So the honest Tughry achieved everything he wanted, and the dishonest Egry was punished according to his deserts.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru