There lived three poor Evenk shepherds. They lived amicably: they went to visit each other, helped each other out in trouble.
Each Evenk had ten deer. Each deer had its own tamga. They grazed deer in different valleys. They come together and everyone praises their reindeer.
One night, someone drove the reindeer into one valley and put the same tamga on everyone. The shepherds got up in the morning, and no one could recognize their reindeer. The Evenks argued:
- These are my deer!
- No, these are my deer!
They argued for a long time, but could not divide the deer.
They came to the tent of their fathers. The fathers got together, argued, argued, and also could not divide the deer.
The Evenks came to the tent to see their brothers. The brothers came together, argued and also could not separate the deer.
So the Evenks walked from chum to chum, no one could separate their reindeer. Then they decided to find the smartest person in the taiga and ask him. They walked for a long time and everyone argued along the way:
- My deer!
- No, my deer!
They came to a distant camp and asked:
- Where can I find the smartest person? They were answered:
- There is no smarter rich man than Orumo; He has the largest herd of deer.
The Evenks stomped around, looked at each other, and said:
- Orumo the rich man will not help us.
The Evenks left. In another camp they asked:
- Where can I find the smartest person? They were answered:
— Shaman Alka is the smartest and has considerable strength.
“The shaman Alka will not help us,” the Evenks answered, “his power is dark, thin.”
Let's move on. They see: shepherds are grazing a huge herd of deer, trying hard. The Evenks asked:
-Who is the owner of this herd?
“We are the owners,” the shepherds answered unanimously. The Evenks were surprised:
- Whose tamga do you put on deer?
“Tamga is the same for everyone,” answered the old shepherd Toka.
- How identical? — the Evenks were even more surprised.
Tamga - brand, mark, sign.
The shepherds went to the flock. The old shepherd Toka said:
“Talk, Evenks, about your misfortune.” We will help. The Evenks said. The shepherd Toka listened to them,
He took the pipe out of his teeth, and through the blue cloud of smoke they saw Toka laughing.
“I thought you were in big trouble, that’s why you went so far.”
The Evenks looked at each other in surprise:
— How do we separate the reindeer: does everyone have the same tamga?
And the shepherd Toka asks:
— Did you Evenks live together? A? Answer:
- Friendly!
- Then why graze the deer separately, let them have one tamga, one owner.
The Evenki made a noise and surrounded the shepherd Toka.
- Who, who will be the owner of the deer? Which of us can you name? We will listen to you, the old one!
Again Toka took the pipe out of his teeth, blew out a cloud of smoke and said:
- Your herd is you and the owners.
The Evenks rejoiced, everyone thought: “How I got rich: I had ten deer - now I have thirty.”
They said goodbye to the shepherd Toko and left satisfied. They go and say:
“However, old Toka is the smartest in the taiga, we won’t go looking for anyone else.”
Since that time, the Evenks have made peace, they graze the reindeer together, and they set up one tamga.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru