There was a time when people didn't know how to have fun. Their whole life consisted of work, food and sleep. One day was like the next. They worked, then slept and woke up again to work. And their brains were dull from boredom.
In that ancient time, a hunter and his wife lived not far from the sea, and they had three sons. Strong and hardy from a young age, they promised to become skilled hunters like their father. Their parents were proud of them and believed that in their old age their sons would not leave them without a piece of meat.
But it so happened that the eldest son went hunting and did not return. And after a short time, the middle son also disappeared without a trace. The search was unsuccessful.
And the more the father and mother grieved for their older sons, the more worried they were about the youngest, who by that time had grown up and began to go hunting with his father. His name was Teriak, which means Ermine in Eskimo. Teriak really enjoyed hunting deer. And his father loved to catch seals and other sea animals.
Hunters cannot live in fear and anxiety forever. The time came when his father allowed Teriak to go into the tundra alone, while he himself sailed in a kayak to hunt in the sea.
And then one day, when Teriak was chasing a deer, the young man noticed an eagle circling above him. The hunter pulled out an arrow, but the eagle suddenly dived down, sank to the ground and turned into a young man.
“It was I who killed your brothers,” he said, and his gaze was sharp, imperious.
“I’ll kill you too if you don’t promise me to organize a holiday with singing and music as soon as you return home.”
– I don’t understand what you’re talking about. What is a holiday and what is singing?
– Do you promise or not? – the young man asked menacingly.
- I promise. But explain to me what your words mean.
“You will come with me to my eagle mother, and she will teach you what you do not understand.” Your brothers rejected the gifts of songs and fun, they did not want to learn anything, and for this I killed them. Come with me, and as soon as you learn to put words together into songs and sing, as soon as you learn to dance and have fun, you will be free and can go home.
The young eagle waved his hand and led Teriak deeper into the mainland. They passed several valleys and gorges and began to climb the mountain. Soon they rose so high that the entire wide plain with herds of deer on it opened up to them in full view.
They were already approaching the top of the mountain, when suddenly they heard heavy, loud blows, as if someone was hitting the rock with a huge hammer.
- Do you hear? - asked the eagle.
“I hear you,” Teriak responded. – What are these strange sounds? My ears are buzzing from this noise.
“This is the heartbeat of my eagle mother.”
The young men approached the eagle's dwelling, which was located on the very ridge of the rock.
- Wait here. “I must warn my mother,” said the young eagle and entered the house.
A minute later he reappeared and invited Teriak to enter.
In a large room, an eagle mother sat on a bed in animal skins. She was very old and sad. The son respectfully approached her and said:
- This man promised to organize a holiday with singing and music as soon as he returned home. But he says that people don't know how to put together songs. They don't even know how to beat a drum or dance. Mother, people don’t know how to have fun!
The old mother perked up noticeably at these words. Her eyes flashed and she said:
– First of all, you need to build a holiday house in which many people can gather at once.
Both young men immediately set to work. They built a holiday house that was both taller and more spacious than ordinary houses.
Then the eagle taught them to put words together and draw them out so long and smoothly that they made a song. She made a drum and taught the young men to beat a rhythm on it. And then she showed how to dance to the music.
When Teriak had learned all this, the eagle said:
– Before inviting people to a holiday, you need to build a holiday house, compose new songs and prepare a lot of delicious food. After all, those who come to the holiday should be well treated.
- But who can I invite? We live far from other villages and don’t know anyone.
“People are lonely because they don’t know how to have fun,” said the mother eagle.
– Prepare everything as I told you. Then go and invite everyone you meet to your holiday. You will see: a lot of people will gather. Know that every gift requires a reciprocal gift. Although I am an eagle, I am also an elderly woman - ordinary women’s activities are not at all alien to me. Give me some tendon threads for needlework as a parting gift. Although this is not a rich gift, I will be glad.
Teriak was confused at first. Where can he get threads, since he is so far from home? But then he remembered that the tips of his arrows were tied to the shafts with threads made from sinew. He took out the arrows, unwound the threads and gave them to the old eagle.
The young eagle again dressed himself in clothes made of sparkling feathers, ordered Teriak to sit on his back and hold on as tightly as possible. They soared over the mountain and flew so fast that the wind whistled in their ears and Teriak’s eyes closed in fear.
But this lasted only a few moments - the sound of the wind died down, Teriak opened his eyes again and saw that the eagle had taken him to the very place where they met. There they said a hearty farewell, and Teriak hurried home. He told his parents his adventures and ended like this:
- People are lonely. They don't know joy because they don't know how to have fun. But the old eagle gave me the gift of joy, now I will share this gift among people. Father and mother listened to him in surprise and shook their heads in disbelief. After all, it is difficult for people whose hearts have never known joy to imagine what delight and joy are. But the old men did not dare to object. They had already lost two sons and understood that they could lose their last if they did not listen to the order of the eagle.
They built a holiday house, a large, spacious one, filled the pantry with food supplies, and then the father and son began to compose songs. They chose the most pleasant and joyful words, they sang the most remarkable and interesting events of their lives. And they learned to dance the rhythmic beat of drums that they made from reindeer skins. Father and son were spinning and jumping, making all sorts of funny movements with their arms and legs. And suddenly we felt a joy unknown before.
And now in the evenings they often told each other different stories, laughed and joked - not like before, when from evening to evening they sat and nodded off out of boredom.
When all the preparations were completed, Teriak went to invite guests to the holiday. To his surprise, he discovered that they were not at all alone on this deserted shore. Cheerful people always have friends. Here and there he came across strange-looking people dressed in the furs of various animals - wolves, foxes, wolverines and lynxes. Teriak invited everyone to the holiday, and everyone willingly followed him.
The holiday was a great success. Everyone sang their own song. There was a lot of talking, laughter, noise, carefree fun. The guests got to know each other, treated themselves, and gave each other supplies and furs.
The feasting and dancing continued all night. And in the morning the guests poured out in a crowd, fell on all fours and ran in different directions. After all, these were not people, but wolves, wolverines, lynxes, foxes - animals that the eagle sent so that Teriak would not have to look for guests for a long time.
It turns out that the power of joy is so great that it can even turn a forest animal into a human.
Soon Teriak again met the young eagle while hunting, and he invited him to the eagle’s home: the eagle mother wanted to look again at the man who organized the first holiday on earth.
She came out to meet them and suddenly turned into a young, full of strength eagle.
It’s not for nothing that they say: when people have fun, eagles get younger. They also say that since then the eagle bird has been considered the patroness of merry holidays with singing and music.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru