A seasoned white-legged boar roamed the land of the sledges. The Narts decided to kill him and eat him.
Led by the old sled Shuzhey, the hunters began chasing the boar. They overtook him in the thickets of river reeds and showered him with countless arrows. The enraged boar turned sharply, rushed straight towards the hunters, and they involuntarily made way for him. But they immediately rushed after the boar and pursued it without respite. At the end of the night they drove the boar out of the Ibg valley, and the dew had not yet dried when they drove it to the Xhaguash river.
The boar pierced the ground with its mighty snout and, passing under the river, crawled out on the other bank. Countless arrows from the sleds pierced the boar in the back and sides, and he ran and ran. And when the sledges crossed Shaguasha, the boar was already out of sight.
The hunters dismounted to rest. Gray-bearded Shuzhey, the master of the hunt, called Shauei and said:
- Get on your Jamidej, catch up with the boar and kill it for us. I'm old and can't see well.
Shauei was young, but had already become famous among the Narts as the best hunter. And now everyone relied on him, knowing the valor of the knight and the strength of his horse.
Shauei jumped into the saddle and followed the trail of the wild boar across the Meykuapa ridge towards the Ula River. Driving along a wooded bank, he saw a wild boar in a remote ravine. Exhausted by the chase, the old boar was resting.
Noticing Shauei, the boar jumped up and walked towards him, aiming his powerful fangs. Shauei quickly pulled the bowstring, and the arrow, piercing the boar's head, passed through the throat and nailed the boar's belly to the ground.
Having tied the boar's legs with belts, Shauei tied it to the horse and rode back.
The young sled Pagoko hunted unsuccessfully in these parts. Seeing Shauei from a high hill, he galloped after him on his white horse, accompanied by two hounds. Having caught up, he rode alongside, keeping on Shauei’s left hand, like the younger one.
Compared to Shauei, Pagoko was no bigger than a fly. His horse was no bigger than a fly in comparison with Dzhamidezh.
The sledges were driving along a rocky road. The white horse Pagoko struck sparks with his hooves, and Jamidezh sank knee-deep at every step, he was so heavy.
On the shore of Shaguashi, Dzhamidez stopped to get a drink. Next to him, downstream, the white horse Pagoko stopped, who was also thirsty. But until Jamidez got drunk, the white horse didn’t get a drop.
Only when Jamidez finished drinking and walked away did the river flow freely and the white horse drank to his heart’s content.
Shauei, looking sideways at Pagoko, asked him:
-Who are you? Who are your relatives?
- My name is Pagoko. “I have no one except my old mother,” answered the young man.
“Go back home and tell your mother that you met some kind of sled and that a dead boar was tied to his horse.” If the mother asks: “What did the hunter give you?” Say: “This is what he gave me.”
Then Shauei cut off the boar's shoulder with a knife and handed it to the young man. Under the weight of the shoulder blade, Pagoko fell to the ground along with his horse.
“Apparently, you can’t bear this burden,” said Shauei and raised the shoulder blade with the tip of a knife.
Having crossed the river, they saw a large oak tree. Shauei bent it down, cut off the branches, and placed the boar's shoulder blade on the top of the oak tree. The tree never straightened up.
“Apparently, the burden is really heavy,” said Shauei. - But little by little you will drag her to my place. This meat will last you and your mother for six to seven years.
Having whipped Dzhamidezh, Shauei galloped towards the sledge, dragging the carcass of a white-legged boar.
Seeing Shauei, the old Nart Shuzhey exclaimed:
“May Mazitha, god of the forests, prolong your years!” It was only thanks to you that the white-footed boar did not leave us. My eyes began to see poorly, I can no longer hunt. Be the leader of the hunters, Shauey!
So the son of Kanzha Shauei became the thamada of the Nart hunters. The sleds returned home with the carcass of a white-legged boar.
And young Pagoko little by little dragged the boar shoulder home, and his mother had enough meat for six or seven years.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru