One day the leader sent his son with a message to another leader and gave him a vessel as a sign of his power.
The leader's son got ready to set out and then saw the young men throwing pebbles into the river.
He liked this activity. So, the son of the leader, take it and throw your vessel into the water! He, of course, immediately disappeared under water.
The young man was frightened: how could he go to the neighboring leader without a vessel? And I’m afraid to return home - I’ll have to tell you about my loss!
And the leader’s son decided to get the vessel. He jumped into the water, swam to the place where the vessel sank to the bottom, and dived deeper.
His friends waited and waited, but they never came. They returned home and talked about the death of the young man.
And this is what happened. Only the leader’s son dived, the snake-nooses grabbed him and swam with him to the cave.
- Get up the steps! - they say, the young man looked and saw a snake king sitting on a ledge, and the ledge was teeming with snake-nooses. The leader's son approached the ledge and just stepped when a step immediately grew. I stepped again - everything remained the same. The third time I stepped, the step grew again. And the snake-nooses say:
- Get up the stairs! The young man stepped for the fourth time and climbed onto the ledge. The snake king sat him down next to him and said:
- Thank you for the gift! Wonderful vessel! Now do you see this feather? It's yours!
And the snake king pointed to a feather that was floating in the corner of the cave.
The young man reached for the pen, but no such luck! The pen was twisted out of his hands. The young man tried three times to grab it and three times he was left with nothing. Only on the fourth time did the wonderful pen come into my hands.
- Do you see this club? - the snake king said to the young man. - Now she's yours.
The leader's son reached for the club, but it was not to be! The club flew up every time Windows extended his hand. Three times the club slipped away, and the fourth time it froze in place, and the young man took possession of it.
Here the snake king says:
- In three days, return home to your father. He will ask you where he has been.
And you know this: “I know that I know.” Don't ever tell him what you saw. And if you need help, turn to the east and bow to the rising sun three times - I will immediately appear with help.
The young man stayed with the snake king for three days, and on the fourth, the snake-nooses carried him to the place where he dived into the water, they carried him ashore and handed him the lost vessel.
The young man went ashore and returned to his father, who was already mourning him. The leader hardly believed the miraculous return of his son.
- Where have you been all this time? - asks. In response, the young man repeated one thing:
- I know that I know.
He also said that the snake king ordered to convey: at the right moment he will help the leader
Everyone lived happily. And then one day powerful enemies attacked the tribe, surrounded the village on all sides, so that no one could get out of it.
The leader did not know what to do. He then remembered the message from the serpent king and said to his son:
“Only you know that the snake king promised to help us.” Go ask him for help.
The young man fastened a magic feather in his hair, took a magic club in his hand, went east and bowed three times at sunrise.
Immediately the snake king appeared before him.
- What do you want? - speaks.
“Enemies attacked our land. Father needs help.
- Go tell him that he has nothing to fear. Enemies will not harm your fellow tribesmen. Everything will be fine by morning.
The young man returned and conveyed to the leader the words of the snake king.
And it’s true: the enemies approached the village, but immediately, as if by magic, they retreated.
And in the morning the leader and his son saw that all the enemies were tightly bound, as if with ropes, by snake-nooses.
Apparently, they became captives of the snake king. The leader made peace with his enemies, and since then both tribes began to live together. This is how the wonderful friendship of the snake king helped him.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru