Previously, old people were killed when they reached sixty years of age.
One son loved his father very much and, when he was sixty years old, hid him in a dungeon, where he brought him food.
One day, Bogdykhan’s palace was attacked by some terrible animals, the size of a cow, gray, with narrow, long muzzles, and long thin tails.
Everyone lost their heads and didn't know what to do.
Then the old father said:
“We need to find an eight-pound cat.”
We found a seven and a half pound cat.
“Feed her,” said the old man, “until she pulls out exactly eight pounds.”
When the cat pulled out eight pounds, she was released onto the animals.
And that's what happened.
Seeing her, the animals began to shrink until they turned into ordinary mice, which ordinary cats have been catching ever since.
When the emperor found out who helped everyone out of trouble, from then on he allowed the old people to live as long as they wanted.
This is how mice appeared in the world, the culprits of the fact that old people are no longer killed.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru