There lived two friends - Movsur and Magomed. They became friends as boys. Years passed, Movsur and Magomed grew up, and their friendship grew stronger with them... But now they lived in different villages.
One day Movsur returned from the pasture very tired and hurried to go to bed. And in a dream, he saw that the beautiful Zhovar, the daughter of Prince Musa, who lived three months away from their village, appointed a day and said: “If you can get to me, then on this day I will leave with you.” Movsur jumped out of bed like a shot deer. It was still dark. Only two parts of the night had passed, the third was beginning. The night stars scattered in different directions, giving way to the sky before the dawn stars.
“What kind of dream did I have?” thought Movsur. “It cannot be that there is no truth in this. I must find the daughter of Prince Musa - otherwise I cannot even be called a horseman.”
He didn't sleep a wink until dawn. His mother noticed that he slept little, but did not ask him anything. She just said:
- Today I will look after the cattle. And you can visit your friend Magomed.
“Okay, I’ll go to Magomed, but if I don’t return today or tomorrow, don’t worry about me.” Know that I have set out on a long journey,” Movsur answered his mother.
He saddled his horse and rode to his friend. The children ran after him and shouted:
- Movsur is going to Magomed!
And those who lived next to Magomed ran up to his window and shouted:
- Movsur is coming to see you!
“Assalamualaikum, Magomed!” said Movsur.
- Wa-alaikum salaam! - answered Magomed.
He helped his friend get off his horse, took him into the house, and treated him to food. Then Movsur said:
“I came to call you on your way.” If you agree, then saddle your horse and we will go!
Magomed did not ask Movsur: “Where are we going?”, and Movsur did not say to Magomed: “We are going there and there.” They set out and stayed on the road for eighty-seven days and eighty-seven nights. The eighty-eighth evening found them in a dense forest. It was already dark when they drove out onto a narrow path. The path led them to someone's hitching post. Smoke was pouring out of the ground nearby. The friends got off their horses, tied them up, approached the place where the smoke was pouring out, and noticed steps there leading to the dungeon. We went downstairs and found ourselves in a spacious room. There were no people in the room, but in the middle there was a table laden with various dishes, from which steam rose.
Neither Movsur nor Magomed asked what it was. They sat down at the table, ate and went to bed. A little time passed, and someone outside shouted into the chimney.
- I'm here! - answered a human voice from the room.
It seemed that the table began to speak, because apart from Movsur and Magomed, there was no one in the room.
Movsur was already fast asleep. Only Magomed heard the unknown voices. He kept guessing;
"Where are we going?" - and couldn’t sleep. And the invisible one shouted again:
- I can't go with you. Foreign guests spend the night with me. We must first see them off on their way. Go alone!
Outside they answered:
“Your guests traveled three months.” One of them saw in a dream the beautiful Zhovar, the daughter of Prince Musa. She set a day for him to come for her. A prince lives beyond our sea. Tomorrow they will approach this sea. If they cut a branch of an oak tree growing near the water and throw it into the sea, it will turn into a bridge. The bridge will allow them to cross the sea. On the other side of the sea they will see a house, and in that house lives an old woman. She will help them get the prince's daughter. But whoever hears these words of mine and tells another about them will turn into a piece of ice.
The voices fell silent. Magomed tossed and turned for a long time, then he too fell asleep.
Early in the morning the friends woke up and went to see their horses. And someone unsaddled the horses, hobbled them, and they grazed in the green meadow all night. Movsur and Magomed looked at each other, but did not say a word to each other. They saddled their horses, then returned to the dungeon to say goodbye to the owner, but he never showed up. And the table was again laden with dishes. The friends ate, left the dungeon, mounted their horses and set off.
They arrived at the sea that the night voice had mentioned. We stopped. Everywhere you look there is water. And only far ahead, in a narrow strip, the other shore of the sea is visible. None of the friends said: “You can’t swim across this sea!” Movsur wanted to ride into the water on a horse. But Magomed held him back. He looked around, saw a large oak tree on the shore, drove up to it, took out a dagger, cut off a larger branch and threw it into the sea. Immediately a bridge appeared in front of them. Friends drove along it. Approaching the other shore, we noticed a small house under the rock. An old woman was standing near the house.
- May your day be good, nani! Guests are coming to you: faithful friends Movsur and Magomed, -
said the horsemen.
- May your journey be prosperous! — the old lady answered affably. -And I know about you. I've been looking at the sea since morning to see if you'll show up. You arrived on time. After all, tomorrow ends three months - the period that the daughter of Prince Musa assigned to Movsur. If you hadn’t come today, you would have had to leave with nothing.
The riders dismounted from their horses, tied them to a hitching post and entered the old woman’s house. She led them to the window and said:
— Do you see the palaces on the hill? Their owner is Prince Musa himself. The prince has a goldsmith. I'll go to them and order a ring for Movsur. Magomed will come with me. And you, Movsur, walk past the palace that is closer to us. The prince's daughter lives there. She already knows you're here. But she is strictly monitored. When you walk past the palace, Zhovar will notice you. If she throws something out of the window, you pick it up and leave quickly. Look, don't look back!
The old woman and Magomed went to see the craftsmen. The craftsmen undertook to make a ring for Movsur. When the old woman and Magomed returned home, Movsur was already waiting for them. He held a golden apple in his hand; Zhovar secretly threw the apple to him from her window.
“Movsur,” said the old woman, “with this apple Zhovar lets you know what will be waiting for you today in the apple orchard.” Go there in the evening. When Zhovar enters the garden, the radiance of her beauty will illuminate everything around, night will turn into day. And you will be tempted to fall asleep. But don't fall asleep.
In the evening, Movsur dressed better, made his way into Prince Musa’s garden and began to wait for Zhovar. When Zhovar appeared at the entrance to the garden, night turned into day. And Movsur was so blinded by her beauty that he immediately fell asleep. Zhovar approached Movsur, looked at him, sat next to him, waited, then stood up and said:
- It's time for me to go home. It's a pity you didn't wake up. Apparently, he was tired on the road!
Then she took off his hat - so that he knew that she was nearby - she put it on the grass, and she walked away.
Movsur woke up. Very upset that he had fallen asleep, he picked up his hat, returned to the old woman and told about everything that had happened to him. The kind old lady began to calm him down.
“Don’t be sad, everything will work out,” she said. “But you should know that they want to force Zhovar to marry one of the prince’s sons.” You can't go to the palace anymore. If Father Zhovar sees it, he will guess everything and throw us all into prison. Stay at home, and Magomed and I will go get the ring and try to see Zhovar.
When they received the ring from the craftsmen and passed by the palace, Zhovar threw a golden bunch of grapes out of the window. The old woman brought it home and said:
“This means that Zhovar is waiting for you in the vineyard this evening.” When you go to her, put this ring on your finger.
As soon as it got dark, Movsur made his way into the princely vineyard, where Zhovar was waiting for him. Her beauty blinded him again. He stopped dead in his tracks, then sank to the ground and fell asleep. But this time Zhovar guessed why he fell asleep. “Apparently I’m blinding him,” she thought. She sat nearby, and when it began to get light, she took the ring off Movsur’s finger and left. Movsur woke up and again hurried to the old woman.
“Don’t be sad, everything will be fine,” the old woman reassured him. “But I found out that Prince Musa does not want to postpone the wedding.” It was not without reason that Zhovar took the ring off your finger. This means that she asks you to take her away, because today Prince Musa intends to arrange a wedding, to marry Zhovar to the prince whom he chose as her groom.
In the evening, the old woman went to the wedding, and ordered her friends to wait for her at the appointed place.
In the midst of the wedding, when all the prince’s guests began to dance the lezginka, the old woman made the Zhovar sign. The girl quietly followed her. The old woman led her to where Movsur and Magomed were waiting for them.
Movsur placed Zhovar next to him on his horse. The friends said goodbye to the kind old lady, thanked her for her help and hurried on their way back.
Before they had time to drive over the nearest mountain, a chase began after them. But the fugitives were already at the sea, and Magomed threw an oak branch that he had in stock into the water. A bridge immediately appeared in front of them. As soon as the friends and the bride moved to the other side, the bridge disappeared into the waves. Now the chase was not scary.
Khovar asked Magomed how he managed to build a bridge across such a sea. But Magomed could not answer. He said nothing.
So they arrived in a familiar forest and went down into an underground room. Just like the first time, they found a table set for guests. We had dinner and went to bed. But Magomed couldn’t sleep that night either. He recalled a conversation he had once heard in this room.
In the second half of the night, just like the first time, someone outside shouted into the pipe. Magomed listened. The voice said:
— Your guests returned with the bride. They will get to their home and celebrate a wedding that will last three days and three nights. On the fourth night, when the bride and groom fall asleep, a snake emerges from a hole in the floor and strangles them. Anyone who hears these words and tells others about them will turn into a piece of ice.
The next morning, the rested travelers set off on their journey. Although the road was long, the horses were good, they got them there quickly.
The three of us arrived at Movsur’s home. Movsur's mother met them at the gate.
“I’ve been waiting for you, my son, now I’ll rejoice at your happiness,” she said, hugging him, the beautiful bride and faithful friend Magomed.
They played a wedding. When the wedding ended, Magomed did not leave. He said he would stay for a few more days. Movsur was very happy about this.
At night, Magomed came and sat near the door of Movsur’s room and began to wait to see what would happen. At midnight, when Movsur and his young wife fell asleep, Magomed heard some rustling. He opened the door and saw that the floor of the room had risen and the head of a snake appeared from there. Magomed was not at a loss: he grabbed his saber, ran into the room and chopped the snake into pieces.
Movsur woke up early in the morning and saw a hacked snake, and Magomed sleeping next to him. He rushed to his friend, woke him up, and asked him to explain how he knew that a snake would climb into their place at night. Magomed did not want to talk, but so that Movsur would not be offended, he told him everything he knew. And he barely repeated the words he heard in the dungeon when he turned into a piece of ice and rolled along the floor.
-My dear friend Magomed, I don’t want to live without you! - exclaimed Movsur.
He grabbed a dagger from its sheath, put the tip to his chest and grabbed a piece of ice to hit the dagger and pierce his heart. But the blow did not work. From the first touch to the hilt of the dagger, the ice turned into a person again. Movsur saw Magomed alive and unharmed in front of him.
This is how it should have happened. Magomed could only be saved by a friend who was ready to die with him. Movsur proved this and saved Magomed.
And they began to live and get along, never to be separated. And no one knew their friendship stronger.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru