An old man lived with an old woman. They had a lot of children. The old man and the old woman began to talk to each other:
- What are we going to do with the children? An old man, he lived poorly, poorly. If they get a pound or two of flour, they will finish it in three days. The old woman says to her husband:
- Take the kids away, let them get lost.
One day an old man stood up and said to the children:
- Well, children, get ready, let's go hunt. Here they come. In front is an old man with a bow and arrows. They crossed one hill, then another. The father began to say:
“Children, children, wait for me, I’ll go and look for the trail of the beast.” As he said, so he did. I left my children at that hill. They wait and wait for their father, but he still does not return. They began to cry and be sad.
One of the brothers was smart, his name was Ivan. Ivan says to his brothers:
- Dry your tears and calm down! Let's go to our yurts. The brothers walk like this, and Ivan is ahead of them. They make stops along the way. They walked and walked, and finally reached their place.
They come to the yurt, and the parents are amazed. We spent the night.
Everyone is silent. Then the father began to say:
“Yesterday I noticed the tracks of an animal. Let's go watch him, he must have been fat.
Let's go again everyone. We crossed two hills. When they crossed them, the father began to say:
“Children, wait here for me, I’ll go and look for the trail of the beast.” As he said, so he did. He left his children near those hills. The children waited a long time for their father, but he still did not return.
Everyone started crying.
Again Ivan says to his brothers:
- Dry your tears and calm down!
The brothers are walking through the remote and dense taiga, and Ivan is walking ahead of them. They walked and walked and returned to their place again. They come to the yurt, and the parents are amazed. We spent the night. Everyone is silent. Then the father began to speak again:
“Before I had time to track the beast yesterday, I went into the thicket. Let's go watch, he must have been fat.
Well, here we go again. We crossed three hills. When they crossed them, my father thought for a long time. Then he says to his children:
“Children, children, wait here for me, I’ll go and look for the trail of the beast.”
As he said, so he did. The old man walked around the hill, killed two partridges, and went to his yurt.
The children waited for a long time for their father, but he still did not return,
They started crying. Ivan says:
- Stop your tears! Rub your eyes and calm down! Now we will go not to our camp, but down the river.
The brothers walked and walked through the taiga. They killed the musk deer, cut out the kidneys, and ate them raw. We went further and killed a roe deer. The kidneys were cut out and eaten raw. Then we went, killed the elk calf, cut out the kidneys, and ate them raw. Well, since they ate the kidneys raw, it means that now they will have good luck!
We walked and walked and saw a stone yurt. They entered this yurt, and a huge woman was sitting there. Her hands are like logs. That woman addresses her brothers affectionately:
- Children, children, where have you come?! My husband is a cannibal, he will eat you. Run quickly.
The brothers listened to her and became thoughtful. And Ivan says:
“You go down the river, and I’ll wait for the cannibal.”
The brothers stood and went down the river. Then the cannibal’s wife says to Ivan:
- Let me hide you in a box.
As she said, she did so.
The cannibal's scream is heard. He arrives in a stone yurt. As soon as he arrived, he immediately shouted to his wife:
- What does that smell like in my yurt? His wife calmly answers him:
- It doesn’t smell like anything.
The cannibal began to drink tea. He can’t calm down, doesn’t drink tea:
- Something smells and smells! His wife says:
- A lean boy came in.
“Hurry, quickly, give it to me,” the cannibal shouted, “where is he?” Give it to me quickly!
His wife says to him in response:
“You’d better rest, you’ll have time... The cannibal is sharpening his knife, and his old woman is worried and doesn’t know what to do.”
The cannibal went to bed. His wife approaches Ivan and whispers:
- Run, run quickly.
How long or how long has passed, the cannibal got up, and Ivan was no longer there. I grabbed my felt boots and let’s catch up with the boy. Ivan decided to outwit the cannibal. Climbed behind a stone. The cannibal came to this place and sat down to rest. Whether he sat for a long time or for a short time, he fell asleep. Ivan jumped out from behind the stone, took off the felt boots from the cannibal and ran. He came to the cannibal's wife and said:
- Your husband ordered to give me all the money. That heroic woman believed him and gave all the money. Ivan began to catch up with his brothers. After walking for a long time, he caught up with them at a high mountain. All the brothers came to the big city. We bought a house. They began to live amicably and richly. We bought a lot of goods and sewed expensive clothes. Then their father and mother arrived. They have aged. They were ashamed. Now they began to live well together with Ivan.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru