Once upon a time there lived an orphan boy. He lived poorly, barely getting by from day to day. One day he said to himself: “I’ll go somewhere and get hired as a worker. Maybe I’ll start living well.” And so he went. He came across a river, and he headed along the bank. He walked and walked and saw: a beautiful loaf was lying under his feet. The boy took it and moved on. I came to a fork. One road goes left, the other goes right. The boy thought and decided to go right, and the priest said:
“Don’t walk on the right road: you will meet death.” If you take the left road, you will meet a bai with seven daughters.
The boy took the left road. Soon we came across a bai's housing. A boy comes in and sees a fat guy sitting with his wife and seven daughters. Bai and his wife are old, and their daughters are young and beautiful.
“Where are you going, what do you need?” asked the bai.
— I’m going, looking for a job.
- Hire me. I have a job. But I set one condition for you. If you get the job done, ask for as much pay as you want. If you don't manage, I'll beat you up and kick you out.
There is nowhere for the boy to go. He agreed to work for the bai for a year. The boy helped the boy with everything. Whatever the Bai said, everything was done.
The youngest daughter really liked the boy, and she liked him.
A year has passed. It's time to get paid. Bai asks the boy:
- What should I give - money or clothes?
“Give me your youngest daughter to work,” the boy answered.
The bai got angry and ordered the boy to be beaten and kicked out with nothing. The boy took his bag and went to look for the truth. On the way I met a decrepit old man. An old man walks, stumbles, and the teeth in his mouth are young, like those of a wolf.
- What are you, grandfather, and where are you going?
- Oh, oh boy, I am Death. I go to the gods to find out who I should eat.
“Where are they, the gods?” asked the boy.
- The gods are very far away. I'm tired while I'm walking, and I'm not even halfway through. We must continue straight along this road until we meet the stairway to heaven. This staircase will lead straight to the gods. But the path along it is long. She is very high, I don’t know how I’ll get there.
- Why do you need to go and suffer? You sit down and relax. I'll run for you.
- Okay, son, go...
The boy went, and everything was as Death had told him. He climbed into the sky and saw: everything there was like on earth, only warmer. The grass is green all year round and does not wither, leaves do not fall from the trees, white flowers grow, and there are more yurts than on the ground. A boy entered the most elegant yurt and saw: ten gods sitting at the table and looking through large books.
- Death sent me to you. “Who should she eat?” he asked, said the boy.
“Let her eat thin old men for three years,” answered the gods and released the boy.
The boy felt sorry for the old people. “Since the old man is thin, that means he’s poor,” the boy thought, “why should a poor man be deprived of his life?” The boy descended to the ground and walked away. He leans on the butter and immediately leaves five lands behind his back.
In one day the boy ran both ways. He came to Death and said:
“The gods told you to eat tree bark in the taiga for three years.”
The old man sighed - there was nothing to do. I went to the taiga.
Three years later the boy met Death again. An old man walks barely alive. He saw the boy, groaned, and began to complain:
“I broke my teeth on this bark, ruined my stomach... Why were the gods angry with me?”
“It’s okay, grandfather, maybe this time the gods will be kinder.” You sit down, rest, I’ll run to them.
The boy came to the gods and said:
“Death from old people almost killed itself.” She broke her teeth and ruined her stomach. Who does she want now?
“Let her eat children for three years now,” said the gods and released the boy.
He felt sorry for the children, he returned to Death and told her:
“I conveyed a complaint to the gods.” They told you to eat seaweed for three years. They are soft and juicy.
These three years have also passed. And together six years passed, and none of the people in the steppe died. And the boy walks around with his bag, always looking for the truth.
I've walked all over the world - there's no truth. Here on the road he meets the old man again.
An old man walks by, all swollen and green with algae. I saw the boy and began to complain:
“The gods decided to kill me completely.” There is no more strength. Apparently, it's time for me to die...
“You sit, bask in the sun, and I’ll run up to heaven and convey your complaints,” said the boy, and he himself thought: “I haven’t found the truth, so at least Death is coming.”
“No,” answered the old man. “I’ll go to the gods myself.” Let them see what I have become.
The old man walked along the road, and the boy went ahead of him. We reached the stairs and began to climb up. Death crawls a little and sits and rests. When Death rested, the boy also stopped.
He had a snuffbox with tobacco. As soon as they stop, the boy sniffs tobacco.
The old man asks:
- What are you eating, boy?
- Yes, here I have dried human meat. I eat it slowly.
- Give me something to eat. I'm completely weak...
- You can give it. Why not give it! But you, grandpa, can’t reach it like I can, your fingers are thick. Turn into a mosquito, climb into the snuffbox and eat as much as you want.
The old man did just that. He climbed into the snuffbox, and the boy closed it with the lid and went down to the ground. He sat down and thought about what to do next.
Batozhok tells him:
- Now go to the khan. All his bais are feasting there, and your former master is with them. There you will find your truth.
The boy went to the khan. If he leans on the bagot, he immediately leaves ten lands behind his back. He came to Khan's ulus, to the largest yurt.
The Khan had a rich feast. The fat bai also feasted. He saw the boy and whispered to the khan:
- Drive this little devil. It will cause you grief.
The old man in the snuffbox heard the smell of food, fidgeted, and squeaked in a thin voice so that one boy heard:
“Let me out to eat, I’ll do whatever you want for you.”
Meanwhile, the Khan menacingly asks the boy:
- Who are you? Where did you come from?
“I came to you as the main one in the steppe—to seek the truth.” This man deceived me.” The boy pointed at the fat guy. “Tell him to pay for my work with what I chose.”
The khan was angered by the orphan’s insolence and ordered him to be chased away and beaten with sticks.
Then the boy whispered into his snuffbox:
“I’ll let you out, grandpa, but you have to eat all the fat people you see in the yurt.”
“I’ll eat, I’ll eat... I’ll eat everyone,” the old man groaned. The khan's servants rushed to the boy, and he opened
snuffbox, a mosquito flew out of it, hit the floor and turned into Death.
Death rushed to swallow fatty beans in a row. Khan was the first to die.
The khan had many farm laborers. The boy let everyone go. He clothed those who did not have clothes. He gave money to those who didn’t have money. All the khan's cattle were divided equally. Since then, a happy life began in the steppe.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru