Long before our days, three Anchi brothers lived in the taiga, hunted animals and birds in the same lands, and caught fish in the same river.
One day, his elder brother had a son and gave him the name Necker. When the boy was one year old, the youngest of the brothers decided to give his nephew a “tooth tooth” gift. I went to the taiga to hunt a rare animal or catch the most beautiful bird. I walked through the taiga from sunrise to sunset and got nothing. The next day I went into the taiga again and again returned without any spoils. And for the third day he had no luck; he couldn’t even shoot a hazel grouse. Then the younger brother says to the elder:
- Apparently, your son will not be happy in the world, but he should be given this name - Yryzy - Unfortunate.
So they began to call little Necker more often - Unfortunate. He grew up cheerful and dexterous, spending his time playing with others his own age. And he always has luck in games, Necker beats all the guys, but they still call him Unlucky.
One day Necker beat all the guys at grandma. And the boys, out of envy, began to tease him:
- Yryzy, Yryzy, Necker-Yryzy, Unlucky!.. Necker felt offended. Crying bitterly, he went to his father
came running and said:
“It’s because of you that I’m being bullied like this.” Couldn't they have given me another name? I can't stand it anymore, I won't wear it...
With these words, the boy sobbed bitterly and fell to the ground; no amount of persuasion could console him.
At dawn the next day, the boy got out of bed before anyone else and secretly left the house. Necker set off from his native ulus, aimlessly.
So he walked for several days, whether he walked much or little, where he was going - he himself did not know. If he meets a kind person, the boy will ask him for food; Necker avoids unfriendly, angry people...
So he walked and walked. Suddenly he hears a gentle voice behind him. He looked around and saw: a girl, about the same age as him, calling out to him, running and catching up. Necker stopped and waited for the girl.
“Where are you going, boy, are you going alone, are you lost?” the girl asks him, took him by both hands, and looked into his eyes. “Why did you leave your father’s ulus?”
“I’m tired of having a bad name,” answered Necker. “How can I live in my father’s ulus if both the old and the young tease me with this name?” It's better for me to go wherever my eyes lead...
“You’re a stupid boy,” the girl says. “You yourself will be happy, there’s nothing to be ashamed of your name.” You need to return to your native ulus, do you want me to go with you? I have no relatives except my old grandmother...
- No, I won’t return home, they will completely laugh at me there, and my father will also beat me for running away...
“Then let’s come live with us, we’ll be friends, we’ll help each other, we’ll find happiness together...
No matter how much Necker refused, the girl insisted on her own, without letting go of his hands, she led him along. In the evening they reached the dugout hut, black smoke rose from the chimney of the dugout. The girl was the first to run into the dugout, Necker timidly entered after her. He sees an old woman, black as a tree stump, sitting by the fireplace, stirring something in a pot and muttering. When she saw Necker, she straightened up and said:
- Hello, hello, my son-in-law Yryzy-Nek-ker, we have been waiting for you for a long time...
Necker was surprised how the old woman knew his name and why she called him her son-in-law, he felt a little scared.
“Here, grandma, now we have at least a small man in our house,” the girl says. “Now
I have someone to play with, someone to supply us with food and firewood...
But the old woman doesn’t say another word, stirs the pot, mutters something under her breath...
When the old woman and the girl went to bed and fell asleep, Necker quietly got out of the dugout and ran as fast as he could. By sunrise he was already far from this place; the whole day without a break he walked where his eyes led. In the evening I heard the howl of the wind behind me, the wind became stronger and louder, its hum became louder. In the hum of the wind, Necker heard the voice of yesterday’s girl. Necker turned off the road and quickly climbed to the top of a densely leafed tree to hide—he didn’t want to meet the girl again. And the wind flew at the tree, snatched Necker from the top like a feather, but carefully lowered him to the ground. Necker looks, and yesterday’s girl stands in front of him and says to him:
- Oh, Yryzy-Necker, you shouldn’t be running away from me, I’ll catch up with you anyway, I’ll find you everywhere, my grandmother will help me. You looked at me painfully, I want to make you happy...
“I’ll never be happy,” Necker says, “no way, now I won’t even be able to return home, since you and my grandmother-witch met on my way...
“If you obey me, you will return home happy, everyone will envy you, no one will even remember your unlucky name.” That’s how Necker’s girl persuaded him.
No matter how Necker resisted, the girl took him by the hand and led him along. Night found them on their way. The girl led Necker to the cave, and in it the same old woman was sitting by the fire, stirring some brew in a cauldron and muttering something under her breath. And again the old woman said to Necker:
- Hello, hello, my son-in-law Yryzy... When Necker woke up in the morning, the old women were in the cave
was no longer there.
The girl hands Necker a couple of rawhide teals and says:
- Your shoes are completely worn out, take new teals, you have a long way to go...
When Necker changed his shoes, the girl handed him a whip, woven from three twigs, and said:
- When you decide to deviate from the right path that I will show you, this whip will spur you on, you won’t go astray...
“Where are you sending me?” Necker asks.
“You will follow your happiness,” the girl replies. “There is a peninsula a few days’ journey from here, at the confluence of nine rivers.” There is a wide and clean meadow on the peninsula. At the far edge of the meadow there is a copper tent. Enter this high tent, go up the nine steps to the ninth room. From there you will go down forty steps to the bottom of the lake and there you will see a golden tent. In this tent, in the middle, there is a golden table, at which God himself dines. When you sit down at the golden table, take off your hat and say hello. After this, different dishes will appear on the table - eat them without rearranging them. During lunch, all the worms and fish of the lake will gather at the table and will eat with you, don’t look at them, continue eating. The last one to appear at the table is the black toad, don’t even look at it until it’s satiated. And when she jumps to the door, getting ready to leave, you cover her with your hat. You will see for yourself what will happen next...
“However, you are sending me to my death!” Necker was frightened. “It’s better for me to return to my ulus than to go to such things...
“You will return home with your happiness,” the girl says. “And you must find this happiness yourself.” Don’t be stubborn and don’t be afraid, Necker, if you want to free yourself from your unfortunate name...
Necker rose to his feet, and as if wings had grown behind his back, his body suddenly became light. He left the cave, and his legs immediately carried him forward.
“You see what teals my grandmother gave you,” the girl says. “They’ll quickly take you where you need to go.” When you do everything that I punished you, go straight to your home, I’ll meet you there...
Necker set off. His legs carry him three times faster than before, the teals give them such speed. Neither the hard-hoofed deer nor the fast-flying bird can keep up with it. When Necker decided to turn towards the house, the tall whip immediately hit him painfully on the back, when fatigue and sleep began to overcome him, he lightly spurred himself on with the tall whip, the teals rushed faster than before...
Whether he ran a long way or a little, a blue lake appeared ahead, into which nine rivers flow, like into a bowl, and a green peninsula juts out. Necker ran to the peninsula, found a copper tent, went down the forty-foam staircase to the bottom of the lake, and entered the golden tent. In the middle of it stands a round golden table. Necker sat down at the table, took off his hat, said hello, and immediately various dishes appeared on the table. Necker began to eat. Unprecedented fish and worms, long as snakes, appeared around, everyone was reaching for the table. Necker, without looking at them, devoured the food by both cheeks. A little later, a large black toad appeared, jumped onto the golden table, and began to eat. Necker gave no sign that he saw her. The black toad, having had its fill, jumped onto the floor, headed towards the door, and the golden table moved behind it. Necker covered the toad with his hat, but did not let go of the hat. The toad, like a good horse, rushed and instantly carried Necker from the bottom of Lake Necker to the surface.
Necker looks - and the golden table is right there, sparkling under the sun’s rays. Then the black toad took on a human form - it turned out to be the grandmother of the girl who sent Necker here.
“My son-in-law, Unlucky Necker, now you are the happiest man in the world; You took away the golden table from the water god himself, Ezi-Sug, and became its owner. Now go home, you will be greeted with joy there. Just don’t offend my granddaughter, don’t refuse her friendship, obey her in everything.
Having said this, the old woman disappeared, as if she had fallen through the ground or melted in a lake.
Necker, hefting the golden table onto his back and not feeling his feet under him, rushed home. Its teals, almost without touching the ground, fly straight through the air. Not far from his native ulus, Necker heard the hum of the wind behind him and guessed that it was his girl who was catching up with him.
Grasping a tall tree, Necker stopped, and the forest girl was already standing nearby, laughing:
“Well, my good Necker, now you won’t be ashamed to return home, you’ll call all your relatives to the golden table, you’ll invite all your peers, you’ll treat you properly, no one will call you Unlucky...
“Thank you, good girl,” Necker says, “at least tell me your name, how can I thank you, tell me...
- I don’t have a name, if you want, call me Friendship. There is no need to thank me, but if you need any help, on the road where you and I first met, come out and call me, I will always be by your side. When you grow up and become an adult, then we will meet again, if you don’t forget me...
Having said this, the forest girl suddenly disappeared, a light breeze rustled through the leaves of the trees...
When Necker returned to his father’s ulus, all his relatives and peers greeted him as a dear guest; there was enough space and food for everyone at the golden table.
And since then no one in the ulus has called Necker Unlucky...
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru