It was a long time ago. There lived a man in one village. He had a wife and three sons. When the sons grew up, the wife said to her husband:
- Father of our children! We should marry our sons! It's time for them to start families!..
“I will marry first the one who does a good, kind deed for people,” the husband answered.
And then one day he called his eldest son and said to him:
- Here's the money, here's the horse, get on it and go to the steppe villages. Find out what's going on there, how people live.
The eldest son mounted a horse and went, as his father ordered, to the steppe villages. But on the way, he squandered all the money his father gave him. And by nightfall he returned home tipsy.
The father did not say anything to his son, but thought to himself: “No, the eldest son did nothing good!” The next day, the father sent his middle son to the steppe villages.
He, like his older brother, squandered all his money along the way and returned home in the middle of the night.
The father was very upset, but did not say anything to his middle son.
On the third day, he called his youngest son to him. He gave him the same amount of money as his eldest sons and sent him on his way.
The youngest son was riding, riding, and on the outskirts of a steppe village he saw a rider who was tying a dead man to the tail of his horse.
- Wait! – the younger brother stopped the rider. -What are you doing?..
“This man owed me three rubles, but he died without paying them back.” I went to the judge, and he made a decision: “Tie, he says, the debtor to the tail of your horse, ride him three times around the village, and your heart will calm down.” That's what I want to do.
“Can’t I give you these three rubles and bury the dead man in peace?” asked the young man.
“Of course you can,” the rider rejoiced.
The guy gave him three rubles, and took the dead man to the cemetery and buried him.
Then he went to a neighboring village, bought fabric for a dress for his mother, returned home in the evening and told everything how it happened.
The father, very pleased, said:
“I will certainly marry this son first!”
And he ordered him to hit the road again and find a man who could eat a cauldron of hominy in one sitting.
[Mamalyga is hard-cooked corn porridge.]
The youngest son went and searched for such a person for two months, but could not find him anywhere. He was already returning home and suddenly saw: a very small man walking towards him along the road.
- Have a good trip! – the little man greeted him.
- Thank you, good man!
-Where are you going? - asked the little man.
“Yes, just like that... I’m looking for a person who could eat a cauldron of hominy in one sitting,” answered the youngest son.
- Oh! “I can do that,” said the little man. And the two of them went to their father’s house.
They cooked a large cauldron of hominy there, put a lot of butter in it, and the little man ate all the porridge and even licked the spoon. The father rejoiced again and said:
“Now, my son, you have found yourself a good companion.” Travel with him to distant lands, there you will see an aul in which a rich khan lives. He has a beautiful daughter, take her as your wife. Along the way you will encounter three hills. They are at a distance from each other that can be covered in three days. You spend the night either before reaching these hills, or after passing them.
And the son and the little man set off. It was already completely dark when they reached the first hill. Choyunkak (that was the name of the little man) said:
[Choyunkak – hominy cauldron.]
- Let's rest, spend the night here...
And the youngest son, remembering his father’s order, did not want to spend the night here. But Choyunkak began to persuade him, and they stayed...
The young man lay down and immediately fell asleep. But Choyunkak did not sleep. In the middle of the night, a woman suddenly appeared - Emegen.
-Who dared to come to my domain? - she screamed.
“I am,” Choyunkak answered.
Then a struggle began between them. And as soon as the woman felt that Choyunkak was winning, she took off running. Choyunkak rushed after her. She touched the hill, the hill split, a passage formed, and the woman disappeared into it, and Choyunkak saw a beautiful palace ahead and entered there. He did not meet anyone in the palace, but he found a large empty chest there, and near it there were many jewelry. Choyunkak put everything in the chest and locked it. He also locked the entrance to the palace. He put the keys in his pocket and returned to his companion. But he heard nothing and slept soundly.
In the morning they set off again.
At the second hill the same thing happened as at the first. Choyunkak again hid the keys to the chest and to the entrance to the palace in his pocket. And he didn’t say a word to the guy.
The same thing happened at the third hill.
And again Choyunkak did not tell his companion anything.
Finally they reached the Khan's palace.
The servants warmly greeted the guests, fed them, gave them something to drink and put them to bed...
Many daredevils came to woo the khan's daughter. They were all warmly welcomed at the palace. But the next morning the groom was always found dead.
Soon everything in the palace became quiet. Everyone fell asleep. Only Choyunkak did not sleep a wink.
Exactly at midnight he heard someone's footsteps. Choyunkak opened the door and saw a girl of rare beauty - the khan’s daughter stood in front of him.
As she came closer, a huge snake crawled out of her mouth and slithered into their room. But Choyunkak swung his knife and cut the snake into pieces. But then a second snake crawled out of the girl’s mouth. Choyunkak chopped this snake into pieces.
A third snake crawled out. He chopped up this snake too. The girl instantly disappeared.
Then Choyunkak lay down and fell asleep peacefully.
The next morning, the khan ordered his servants to carry out the corpses of the deceased groom and his friend.
Imagine the khan’s surprise when he learned that both the groom and his friend were alive!..
He ordered the people to be convened and announced to everyone about the wedding of his daughter with a guest who had come to him. The Khan gave a big feast.
They played a wedding.
Then Choyunkak and his friend, together with his young wife, set off on the return journey. On the way, Choyunkak took all three chests of jewelry, the keys to which were in his pocket.
And when the travelers reached the place where the younger brother gave three rubles and took the corpse of the deceased to bury him, Choyunkak told his friend the story of the three chests and added:
– I give you all this wealth!
He looked at his friend's wife and said:
- Now she has cleared herself... Take care of her, live happily! Goodbye... - and disappeared.
For a long time the guy and his wife looked for Choyunkak, called him, but could not find him anywhere. So, with sadness in their hearts, they returned to their father’s house.
They were joyfully greeted by their older brothers. And the father, seeing his youngest son with his beautiful wife, was so happy that he did not know where to seat them or what to treat them with.
Some time passed, and the son asked his father:
- Allow me to go and look for my friend, a kind man who saved my wife and gave me such great happiness!.. I feel indebted to him...
“Oh, son,” said the father, “I don’t know what to do!” How many grains are in a cauldron of hominy, Choyunkak has the same amount of wealth. You won’t find him, he only appears when he wants. And you, son, do only good in life. Prosperity will then come on its own!
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru