This is how it has been told for a long time. The tundra people of the western side exchanged with our coastal and tundra people. And if the exchange did not work out, then they fought. So it happened every year, One day the coastal and tundra inhabitants of the North went to the inhabitants of the western side. We traveled for many days and finally arrived. Having met people from the western side, they were warmly welcomed. They exchanged food with each other, gave various items, and told news. Having rested, we opened the exchange. The coastal and tundra people of the northern side brought skins of sea animals, belts, soles and rendered fat for exchange. People from the western side brought iron, knives, cauldrons, tobacco, tea, and deer junk for exchange.
Before the exchange, they performed the custom of the opponents: they placed two deer with their heads facing each other, then they prepared to stab. Whose deer falls with its head towards the enemy must be the first to start a war in the event of a quarrel. Here two people stuck spears into deer. The deer of our people fell on the spot, turning its head towards the opponents. The enemy’s deer rushed forward and fell headlong towards our people. After that they began to exchange with each other.
During the exchange, a dispute arose over the low price. The tundra people from the western side took a lot of things from the local people, but gave little of their own things. We never came to an agreement.
According to custom, the war must begin in the morning. They must prepare for battle overnight, and send women, children and old people home with the reindeer herds. If the opponents who are to be attacked do not wish to accept battle, then, according to custom, they can leave with their caravans before dawn. But the other side may be catching up with them.
So that's what happened. The shore people decided not to accept the fight. There were few men, few weapons, and there was no reindeer herd at all, only a caravan of riding reindeer. With the onset of darkness they prepared, and at dawn they moved in a caravan in their direction.
One resident of our side had a child tied in a reindeer skin sled. This man fell behind the caravan. Suddenly he noticed a chase and began to chase the deer. While running away, he dropped the child from the sled without noticing, and left. One person from the camp of the Anuiagites. (opponents), who did not have children of his own, picked up the baby and felt it thoroughly. It turned out to be a boy. This man did not pursue our people, he returned back. When he brought the boy home, his wife was very happy. So they began to raise the foundling.
Several winters have passed. The boy grew up, matured, even became stronger than a brown bear, faster than a wild deer. He did not know that his educators were people of another tribe; he considered them his parents. Indeed, he was a good son; he never left his teachers without food.
Only the smile of this village constantly haunted the teacher, did not give him peace anywhere, saying:
- This young man, your pupil, is our enemy. Next year or earlier, opponents will begin to look for him and attack our village. Because of one man we will all die. You must know that he will not take root with us, because he is an enemy, and when our opponents come, he will join them. And then he will be the destroyer of our tribe and will not spare us. You must kill this young man!
The pupil did not know anything about this; every day he brought wild deer and other various animals from the hunt. The old man and the old woman loved their foundling, but what to do? After all, the smiley said: You must kill him! You can’t disobey the smile, as he said, that’s how it should be. In the absence of his pupil, the old man pulled his bow tighter with a new string. The tips of two arrows were cleaned and sharpened. He ordered his wife to prepare the best and most delicious food. At this time the pupil entered. Entering, he said to the old man:
– Why do you clean arrowheads? The teacher answered:
“I am preparing these arrows for you as an inheritance.” The iron arrowheads were covered with rust. So that the rust does not eat the arrows, I clean them.
The young man undressed, sat down in the fatman's canopy, put on the teacher's tunic and began to wait for food. From the natgka the adoptive mother brought in a large wooden dish filled with tasty and varied food. The young man noticed this and said:
– Why did they prepare so much delicious and varied food for me today?
The adoptive mother said:
“Eat, my son, as you should, more heartily.” The young man ate to his fill and said:
- Well, I'm full.
When the young man finished eating, the teacher blocked his door and took a bow and arrow. Taking aim at the young man, he turned to him:
- No, I am not doing this to you of my own free will. The Umilyk of our village ordered to kill you. After all, you are not a local child, but an enemy child. Your enemies abandoned you, but I found you and raised you as a son.
The student answered him:
- No, I’m not an enemy, I’m your child. If the enemies come, I will not join them. Only I should join the residents of this village, I should help them, because you raised and raised me!
The teacher said:
– This evening he will come to check on the smiley. He warned and intimidated me. Then the young man replied:
- Well, nothing can be done. Do as custom dictates.
The teacher asked:
- Just don’t be offended by me!
The young man agreed.
There was a curtain tied at the top in the middle of the canopy. The young man sat down near this curtain. The old man pulled his bow, holding the second arrow between his fingers. Drawing his bow, he shot at the young man. But he instantly jumped back, and the arrow pierced the place where he was sitting. Having inserted the second arrow, the old man fired again, but the young man, faster than the arrow, again jumped to the side. and the arrow pierced the place where he was sitting.
Then his teacher said:
- Leave quickly, return to your people!
The small hand sled was loaded with old spare bags and travel food, and the young man was well prepared for the journey. The teacher forced the pupil to take the leg spikes with him and checked all his traveling equipment. When they finished preparing, the teacher said:
- From here you will go towards the southeast wind. After some time you will reach a valley. In the middle of this valley there grows one tree. The branches of this tree are at the very top. You are strong and agile. Climb to the top of this tree and have a good sleep in its branches. As soon as you wake up, go exactly to the northeast direction. If you walk, autumn will come, the rivers and lakes will freeze. And then do as your mind tells you.
At dawn the young man left the village where he grew up. A few days later I saw a tree in the valley. I spent the night in the branches of this tree, then moved on.
When the young man walked, he did as his teacher taught him. One day on the way he saw a lake. In the middle of this lake there was a small island. The young man walked across the smooth lake ice to the island, at which time snow began to fall and a north-east wind blew. Then he decided to spend the night. His pursuers overtook him while he was still sleeping. When I was sleeping, I heard shouts calling for a fight:
- Ira! Ira! Ira!
Jumping up, I thought: Is it really Ira? He quickly attached the spikes to the soles of his boots and stood up. He tied the lasso tightly to the shaft of his spear and walked out of the island onto the clear ice. The pursuers began to squeeze him in a ring. They came within shooting distance and began shooting many arrows at the young man. But he dodged so deftly and quickly that not a single arrow hit him. On the contrary, the arrows, sliding across the ice, wounded the legs of those who were on the other side of the circle. Many warriors ended up with bullet holes in their heels and ankles, as the soles of their shoes were made from skins from deer feet. There were no spikes on the pursuers' feet, the ice was slippery, and they constantly injured each other. However, as they advanced, they came very close and squeezed the young man from all sides. Here, having strengthened himself with spikes on the ice, he began to swing around himself with a lasso with a spear tied at the end. The tip of the spear struck down the opponents one after another. They couldn't stand it and ran away, leaving behind the wounded and dead. But they could not escape, the ice was slippery, and without leg spikes the people crawled on all fours. The young man ran up to the people crawling on the ice and stabbed them with a spear. He left only two people so that upon their return they would tell their people about the defeat.
The opponents had with them a herd of deer, many reindeer teams and a yaranga with three women. The young man harnessed two captives to three reindeer each, so that they would not die of hunger along the way, and sent them to the enemy’s camp. And he took a herd of deer and a yaranga with three women with him.
Now he has become even more powerful. He ordered three captives to drive the deer in the direction where he was born. Along the way, he often stopped the herd and went out alone to see if there were any enemies nearby. If there was no danger, he stopped for the night. So, with a caravan and a herd, he approached the chain of mountains. Having climbed a high mountain, I saw a large village below. He returned to the caravan and said to the women:
“Stop at this place, set up a yaranga, graze the deer here, and I’ll go find out who lives in this village.”
They spent the night in this place, and in the morning the young man went alone to the village. As I approached, I saw an old man at the outermost yaranga. The old man was whittling wood with an adze. When the young man approached, the old man looked at him and, seeing the enemy’s clothing, said:
- Oh, what kind of person are you? Perhaps you are an enemy person? What should we do, so suddenly you overtook us! The young man said:
- No, they say that I am a local person. The old man objected:
– But why are your clothes the enemy’s? We don't wear such clothes.
And again the young man said:
- No, no, the people of this side, seeing that they were being defeated, began to run away from their enemies. While running away, they tied me to the back of the sled. When the reindeer were running hard, my father did not notice how he dropped the child from the sledge. So I went ahead. They say that when he turned around, he noticed that there was no child, and said:
- Now it’s too late to go back! I was that lost child. An enemy warrior picked me up and raised me instead of his son.
The local old man recognized this young man as his son. It was he who dropped the child many years ago. Having recognized his son, he called his wife. She asked:
-Who are you? The young man replied:
– I don’t know anything about myself. The old man said:
- This one said the right thing about himself. When I was a child, we dropped it.
The old woman clapped her hands:
- But it was we who lost our child! Call your younger sons quickly!
The younger sons came. They placed the newcomer next to the younger sons and began to examine him. Indeed, he looks like his brothers. The old men recognized the young man as their son. After this, the young man said to his brothers:
- Behind those mountains there is a herd of deer and a yaranga with three women. They followed me themselves. Follow the herd and these women. Let them not be afraid.
The brothers went to the mountains. The next day the herd was driven in and the women were brought. The young man took one woman for himself and became his wife. About the other two he said:
“Keep an eye on these women, someday we’ll send them home from here, let them tell their relatives everything about me.”
After that, he stayed with his parents to live.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru