They say that one day early in the morning a little old woman, the owner of five cows, got up and went to the field.
In a wide field she saw a horsetail grass with five shoots. She pulled out the horsetail but did not break a single root or shoot. She brought the horsetail into the yurt and put it on the pillow. Then she went out and sat down to milk her cows.
He sits and hears the bells ringing in the yurt. The old woman threw the milk pan and spilled the milk. She ran into the yurt and looked - everything was as it was, everything was in its place: a horsetail lay on the pillow, the grass was like grass. The old woman came out again and sat down to milk the cows. He hears the bells ringing again. Again the old lady spilled milk. She came running and saw a girl of unprecedented beauty sitting on the bed: with eyes like sparkling precious stones, with eyebrows like two black sables. This little horsetail has turned into such a girl.
The little old lady was happy. Says to the girl:
- You will be with me instead of my daughter!
They began to live together.
One day, a young hunter Harzhit-Bergen went to the taiga. He saw a gray squirrel and shot at it. I shot from early morning until sunset, but still couldn’t hit. The squirrel jumped onto the tree, from the tree to the birch, from the birch to the larch.
The squirrel ran to the little old woman’s yurt and sat down on a pine tree.
Harzhit-Bergen ran up to the pine tree and shot at the squirrel. The squirrel ran away again, and the arrow fell into the smoke hole of the little old woman’s yurt.
- Old woman, take out the arrow and give it to me! - shouted Harzhit-Bergen.
But I didn’t receive an answer.
Harzhit-Bergen became angry and blushed with anger. He ran into the yurt.
He ran in and saw a beautiful girl. Her unprecedented beauty made me faint and lost my mind. Then, without saying a word, he ran out, jumped on his horse, and rode home.
“My parents,” he says, “the little old lady, the mistress of five cows, has such a good girl!” Take her to be my wife!
Harzhit-Bergen's father immediately sent people on nine horses to fetch this beauty.
-The messengers galloped up to the little old lady who owned five cows. They saw the girl and were stunned by her beauty. Then they woke up and went out. One, the most respectable man, remained.
“Little old lady,” she says, “give this girl to young Harjit-Bergen as a wife!”
“I’ll give it to you,” answered the little old lady.
They asked the girl if she would go.
“I’ll go,” said the girl.
“And the bride price is like this,” says the little old woman, “bring me so many horses and cows so that my field becomes crowded.”
They quickly drove horses and cows to her field. They brought in so many that you can’t even count them.
Then they dressed the girl up, quickly and deftly. They brought a brown horse. They bridled her with a silver bridle, saddled her with a silver saddle, and hung a silver whip at her side. Harzhit-Bergen took the bride by the hand, led her out, put her on a brown horse, and took her home. They are coming.
Suddenly he saw a fox on the way. I couldn’t resist and said:
- I’ll gallop into the taiga after the fox! I'll be back soon. And you go along this road. The road will split into two directions. A sable skin will be hung to the east, and a white-necked bear skin to the west. Don't turn that way. Take the road where the sable skin is hung!
He said and rode off.
The girl went further alone and reached the place where the road diverges on two sides. As soon as she got there, she forgot what Harzhit-Bergen punished her. I drove along the road where the bear skin was hung, and soon came to a large iron yurt.
The devil's daughter came out of the yurt, dressed in iron clothes, with one twisted leg, with one twisted arm, with one nasty cloudy eye in the very middle of her forehead, with a long black tongue hanging down on her chest.
The devil's daughter grabbed the girl, pulled her off the horse, tore the skin off her face and threw it over her face; She took off all her attire, dressed herself in it, and threw the girl over the yurt. After that, the devil’s daughter mounted a forelock horse and rode east.
Harjit-Bergen caught up with her when she was already approaching his father’s yurt. He didn't notice anything, didn't guess anything.
All the relatives gathered to meet the bride. Nine young men went to the hitching post to meet the bride. Eight girls gathered at the hitching post to meet her. They spoke to each other:
“When the bride says the word, beautiful beads will fall down and fall to the ground!”
To string the beads, threads were saved.
Well done thought:
Wherever the bride goes, black sables will run in her footsteps.
To shoot sables, bows were prepared.
The bride said the word - frogs fell. The bride stepped - the red, mangy stoats ran. Everyone who met was amazed, everyone was saddened.
Green grass was laid from the hitching post to the yurt. They took the bride by the hands and led her into the yurt.
She entered the yurt and lit a fire in the hearth with three tops of young larches. After this they had a wedding feast: they drank, ate, played, laughed. No one could have guessed about the substitution.
Soon after, a little old woman came to her field to milk the cows. He looks - in the same place the horsetail grass with five shoots has grown again, better than before.
The old woman dug it up by the roots, brought it to the yurt, and laid it on the pillow. Then she went out and began milking the cows. He hears the bells ringing in the yurt. She entered the yurt and saw the same beautiful girl sitting, only she had become even more beautiful.
- How did you come, how did you return? - asked the little old lady.
“Mother,” the girl answered, “when Harzhit-Bergen took me from here, he told me: I’ll ride into the forest after the fox, and you go along the road where the sable skin is hung; Don’t turn onto the road where the bear skin is hung. I forgot about it, drove in the wrong direction and arrived at an iron yurt. The devil's daughter came out, tore the skin off my face, and covered her face. She stole my entire outfit, dressed me in it herself, and threw me through her iron yurt. She mounted my brown horse and rode off. Gray dogs grabbed my body with their teeth and dragged me into a wide field near your yurt. Here I grew up again as a horsetail grass. How can I see Harjit-Bergen now?..
The little old lady began to console her.
“You will see, you will meet,” he says, “but while you live with me, as you lived before, you will be my daughter!”
And the horsetail girl began to live with the little old woman again.
The forelock horse discovered that the horsetail girl had come to life, and began to say to Harzhit-Bergen’s father in a human voice:
— Harzhit-Bergen left the girl alone on the way. She reached the crossroads, turned onto the road where the bear skin hangs, and came to an iron yurt. The devil's daughter jumped out of the yurt. She tore the skin off her face, covered her face, took off her entire outfit, cleaned up and dressed herself in it, and threw her through her iron yurt. And this devil’s daughter lives in your yurt, she has become your daughter-in-law. And my mistress came to life again. Take her, bring her to the yurt, give her to your son! Otherwise there will be trouble - the devil’s daughter will destroy your hearth and yurt, she won’t let you live, she will destroy you all!
The old man heard this and ran into the yurt.
“Son,” says the old man to Harjit-Bergen, “where did you bring your wife from?”
— I brought the daughter of a little old woman, five cows of the mistress.
To this the father said:
- The brown horse is complaining to me! He says you left the girl alone. She says that she reached the place where the road diverges on two sides, and reached an iron yurt. The devil's daughter pulled her off the horse, tore the skin off her face, covered her face, cleaned up, and dressed in her clothes. She deceived everyone, she came here by deception! Go to the little old lady, beg the girl to come back to us! Bring her! And tie the devil’s daughter to the tail of a wild horse and drive him out into the field. Let him mark her bones there! Otherwise she will destroy everyone - both people and livestock!
When the devil's daughter heard this, she turned black all over.
When Harzhit-Bergen heard this, he blushed with anger. He grabbed the devil's daughter, pulled her out from behind the curtain by her leg, and tied her to the tail of a wild horse.
The horse galloped into a wide field and began to beat the devil’s daughter with its hooves. Her black body turned into worms and reptiles. They collected them all and burned them.
After that, Harzhit-Bergen rushed to the little old woman. He jumped off his horse at the hitching post. The little old woman saw it, ran out of the yurt, and was delighted, as if someone who had been lost had been found, as if someone who had died had come to life. She spread green grass from the hitching post to the yurt, slaughtered the best, fattest cow, slaughtered the best, busty horse, and began to prepare the wedding feast.
The horsetail girl looked at Harjit-Bergen and began to cry:
- Why did you come to me? You let the daughter of the eight-legged devil shed my blood, tear my thin skin, you gave me to the gray dogs... After that, what kind of wife are you looking for here now? There are more girls than perches, more women than khargus. Look for a wife among them! But I won’t marry you!
“I didn’t give you to the daughter of the eight-legged devil!” says Harjit-Bergen. - I didn’t give it to the gray dogs! I went into the forest after the fox, I showed you the way. I didn’t tell you: Go towards death!
The little old lady wiped tears from both eyes on both sides, sat down between the girl and Harjit-Bergen:
- How come you, having come to life after death, having been found after loss, do not rejoice? Love each other again! Live in friendship again! Let none of you disobey my words!
The girl agreed and said quietly:
- Okay. I won't disobey you. I'll forget everything!
Harzhit-Bergen jumped up, danced, jumped, hugged her, kissed her. Then the brown horse was saddled with a silver saddle, bridled with a silver bridle, covered with a silver blanket, and hung with a silver whip. The girl was dressed and dressed up and went on the road.
We drove for a long time. They recognized winter by the snow powder, recognized summer by the rain, recognized autumn by the fog. So we drove along the road.
Finally we arrived at my father’s yurt.
All the relatives, all nine brothers of Harzhit-Bergen gathered to meet the bride. From the hitching post to the yurt the road was covered with green grass.
When the bride arrives, they think, she will perform and walk around - sables will jump out from her tracks.
They prepared arrows for this and worked so hard that all the skin peeled off their palms.
The eight sisters twisted the threads and worked so hard that all the skin came off their fingers. They were waiting for the bride, thinking:
As soon as she comes in and speaks loudly, her expensive red beads will fall out of her mouth!
Harzhit-Bergen arrived with his bride. At the hitching post, two girls tied their horses by the reins. They took the bride in their arms and lowered her to the ground. The bride spoke loudly and red beads began to fall. The girls began to collect them and began to string them on threads. The bride went to the yurt - black sables ran in her tracks. The fellows began to shoot at sables.
The bride entered the yurt and lit a fire in the hearth with three tops of young larches.
They had a merry wedding feast. Guests from all villages gathered. There were singers here, there were dancers, there were storytellers, there were wrestlers, there were jumpers...
Three days later the feast ended, the guests dispersed and went their separate ways. Harzhit-Bergen began to live with his wife. They lived together, lived happily, lived long. They say their grandchildren live to this day.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru