One day five girls went to the tundra. The giantess Mayirakhpak saw them, caught up with them, and put them in a kamleyka. The girls got scared and cried, and the giantess came up to the tree and said:
- Tree, bend down! The tree leaned over. Mayyrakhpak tied the girls to its top and said:
- Tree, rise up!
The tree rose. The giantess left the girls on the tree and left. At this time a bear passed by. The girls asked:
- Little bear, good one, untie us!
- No, I won’t untie it! - said the bear. - When we bears are looking for food, your hunters try to kill us! - And he left.
- You're bad! - the girls said. A crow flew past, and the girls asked him:
- Raven, dear, untie us!
- No, I won’t untie it! When we fly to you to pick up leftover food, you throw whatever you can at us! - said the raven and flew away.
A fox ran past. The girls asked her:
- Dear little fox, untie us! The fox took pity on the girls, came closer to the tree, and asked:
- How did you get there?
“Mayyrakhpak tied us up, told the tree to bend down and then rise again!”
- Tree, bend down! - said the fox. The tree bent down, the fox untied her kamleika, and four girls came out, and the fifth fell asleep so tightly in her sleeve that her friends could not wake her up. The girls filled the kamleika with berries and ran away.
Meanwhile, Mayyrakhpak was returning and sharpening her large knife as she went. She walked up to the tree and said:
- Tree, bend down!
When the tree bent over, Mayyrakhpak cut one sleeve of the kamleika and berries fell from there.
- Oh! Eyes, eyes! — the giantess was delighted.
She cut the second sleeve and injured the girl's little finger. The girl fell out of the camera, got scared and cried:
- Just don't kill me! I will work for you, I will light your fat pots.
- Well, if so, fine! — Mayyrakhpak agreed.
She took the girl by the hand and led her to her home. She took off all the girl’s clothes, tore them and threw them away. So the girl stayed to live in the giantess’s dugout.
One day she asked:
- Grandma, let me go for a walk!
- What will you wear? After all, you have neither torbas, nor a kitchenette.
- I’ll put on your torso and kuhlyanka. Mayyrakhpak let the girl out into the street
and tied her to the yaranga post so that she would not run away.
The girl looked at the sand spit visible in the distance, saw two men there and sang:
There in the distance I see two men. They're coming here. One comes with a spear, the other with a bow!
The giantess heard the girl’s voice and asked:
-What are you singing about, daughter?
- Yes, nothing. I remember my brothers Nbgyake and Mytylyuk.
At this time, two men approached the girl. These were her brothers. They untied their sister and ran away with her. Mayyrakhpak called:
- Daughter, daughter!
But no one answered her. Then she came out of the yaranga and saw those running away. The giantess ran after her and shouted:
- Be careful! I’ll catch up and eat everyone!
And now the witch is very close. Then the brothers said to the girl:
— Sister, Mayyrakhpak cut your finger. Now you, too, have probably become a witch. Do something!
The girl took a stone, placed it on the road and ran her cut little finger along it. And the stone immediately turned into a high, impregnable rock. But Mayyrakhpak climbed this rock, went down from it and again chased the fugitives.
Brothers say:
- Sister, do something! The girl blew on her cut finger and drew a line across the road with it. And in place of the line a river appeared.
Mayyrakhpak shouted:
- Daughter, daughter, how can I cross the river?
- Drink water from the river! - answered the girl.
And so the giantess began to drink water from the river. She drank, she drank, she drank it all. Her belly became very big and burst.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru