They say that there lived a rich man in a certain village, and he had his only son Faralakhi, who was about to get married. His parents wanted to find him a wife in their village, but they didn’t succeed: he didn’t like a single girl. And Faralakhi was so tired of his parents’ incessant reproaches that he left the village and began to wander. He ate only lentils, but he liked being single, eating coarse food and wandering wherever he pleased, rather than getting married and living comfortably, as his parents wanted.
It so happened that one fine day Zanahari sent his wife from the sky and a flower fell right on his lamba. Faralahi put the flower in a box and it turned into a human body; After some time, a woman of extraordinary beauty turned out to be in the box, and Faralahi married her.
Father and mother were very sad without Faralakhi and ordered to find him. The Faralahi were found and brought to their parents' house. He began to turn pale, lose weight and became completely weak. But his parents looked after him with all their might, and he eventually recovered. Then they again began to pester him with requests for marriage. One after another they sent to him girls from the village, dressed in the most beautiful clothes, but he did not like any of them. Finally, Faralaha's patience ran out, and he admitted to his parents that he already had a wife, sent to him by Zanahari.
“Warn your relatives and my slaves,” he said, “tomorrow I will celebrate my wedding.” Let them kill a fat bull for the wedding feast.
Everyone in the village wanted to see Faralakhi’s wife, but he did not agree to show her before the holiday. Faralahi brought a slave to his hut and ordered her to prepare everything that was needed for bathing his wife. Then he opened the box in which the wife sent to him by Zanahari was locked, and she appeared so beautiful that it was painful for the eyes to look at. At the sight of her, the slave’s head went blank; She immediately told her husband’s family about what she had seen. Relatives came running to see their daughter-in-law. At that moment, a rainbow spread over their heads.
In honor of the wedding, a big celebration was held, to which all the people of the village gathered. They killed a fat bull and performed all the required rituals. The next day, the parents called the girls from the village and sent them to Faralaha's new hut to talk and play with his wife. There was no end to the fun. The women danced to the sounds of music and the beat of a large drum and sang the most beautiful songs.
Then Faralahi and his friends went to the village and took the musicians with them. While he was away, his friends persuaded the young woman to go swimming in the river. When she swam, they plunged her head into the water and ran away, thinking that she would drown. But on the other bank stood an old woman; Seeing that the woman had disappeared under the water, she rushed to help, pulled her out of the river, took her to her hut and began to look after her.
On the way back, Faralahi and his friends passed by the old woman’s hut and asked her for water to quench their thirst. Faralahi saw that someone was sleeping in the hut, wrapped in a lam6u. He asked who was lying there.
“This is one traveler,” answered the old woman, “he is tired and resting.”
Faralahi and his friends went their own way. Returning home, Faralahi saw that the hut was empty. He ran to his father and mother, but did not find his wife there either. Her parents said she went swimming with her friends and never returned. Faralahi was bitter about losing his beloved wife; he gathered his slaves and left to look for her. On the way they met the same old woman again; she told them that Faralakha’s wife came with her friends to swim and her friends wanted to drown her, but, fortunately, she was standing on the other bank and managed to come to her aid.
“Now I have it,” added the old woman. “You saw her sleeping wrapped in a lamba before.” I told you then that this is a traveler.
Faralahi thanked the old woman and hurried to his wife. He returned with her to the village, gathered her friends and told everyone how badly they had acted. Then he, along with his wife and slaves, left the village to settle in a new place and live calmly and happily, without fearing anyone.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru