The Narts are galloping on a campaign, The Narts are galloping forward, To punish their enemies, To defeat the Chintov army, They are galloping into battle across the steppes, But they decided not to take Sosruko with them. A terrible frost hits the Narts on the way. How to get there? Each rider is rooted to this frozen ground, And in the saddle he trembles In these Kuma steppes: The world is in icy chains! Woe to the Nart fighters, Woe to the Nart horses! The cold became stronger, the husband’s strength became weaker. The Nart elders shout among the Kuma steppes, - Snow is in their eyes, Anger is in their voices:
"Hey, Imys, is there fire?" "I have no fire." "Hey Sosum, is there any fire?" "No fire! No fire!" "Hey Himish, is there any fire?" "I have no fire." "Ashamez, is there fire?" "No fire! No fire!"
The brave sledges have no fire. Is this how they go on hikes? Here Nasren Longbeard Turned to the brave Narts: “Our path has become mortal from now on, We will all perish in the desert - He who is old and he who is young. Woe to the Narts: the mortal cold will fall, turn us into corpses! Oh, we are stupid, stupid, Narts, Science will be ahead for us: We should have taken with us the dark-faced Sosruko, the Horseman of the one whose name The Chints say in fear, Whose footprints bring happiness, Whose participation in the battle conquers all adversity, Whose spear is ready for battle, Paves the way to victory, Whose high helmet sparkles for Us as a guiding star, Whose noble courage, Like chain mail, we are covered with, Whose arrow fights with the blizzard, Leads people out of trouble, In difficult times We find a way out. in vain, brothers-narts, We galloped without Sosruko!”
The brave Narts are in sadness: We should have taken Sosruko!
Who appeared there in the cold fog on the mound? Then the sledge Sosruko came rushing: There Sosruko, where the danger is, Where they need help! In the middle of the blizzard Nartov road a friendly cry rang out:
“Hello, our formidable warrior, famous leader! We are perishing in the frosty night. Help, if you can, If you can, quickly light a hot fire!”
“I wish you all good luck,” Sosruko says in response, “Who saddles a horse on a journey, Jumps into the desert without fire? I don’t even have a small spark, because I set off on a journey without fire, I’m not afraid of the cold. Don’t be upset, Narts, I’ll get fire now. Don’t despair, Narts, I’ll get fire for you!”
He took out a steel arrow and shot it at the night star. The night star falls, noisily scattering sparks. The riders praise Sosruko, The sleds offer their hands, To warm up at least a little, But anxiety is again in the heart: Immediately the star went out and melted in the desert, - And again the sleds are in ruins!
What should Sosruko do? He, the mighty one, decides to rescue the Narts from the inevitable trouble. He lands, stubborn, on the dashing Thozhey, without timidity, he flies to the top of the Harama. So he sees, fearless: Smoke from the ancient tower curls, thin, and melts, and hides in the clouds. And happy with the smoke, He secretly drives up, - Seven fences, seven thorny ones. Sosruko notices: That is Inyzh’s dwelling. He drives closer, Sees a high flame burning in the heart of the circle: Then the one-eyed Inyzh, curled up in a powerful circle, Sleeps, snores, with his head resting on his knees. Illuminated by a firebrand, The mouth is open, missing a front tooth, And the fire is still burning In the heart of a powerful circle, Not weakening for a moment... And Sosruko The same one Asks, like a friend:
“The Narts need fire. What should we do, horse?”
The horse neighed seven times: “Oh, Sosruko damask, Strong-armed and stately! We won’t go back, But we’ll drive up to Inizh. As we get closer, I’ll turn my horse’s, hot running into a dog’s stride, As we get closer, I won’t walk like a dog, I’ll sneak up like a cat, I, born of foam! I’ll jump over the walls of This tower ancient, Above Inyzh, fearless, I will stand on my hind legs. We will win without a fight: Bend over to the fire and grab the firebrand.”
The Horse, the ever-present adviser of the Daring Sosruko, flew to the old tower. As he came closer, the horse's hot run turned into a dog's stride, And as he came closer, he turned the dog's step into a light rustle of a cat, And he approached the tower, he rushed off like a quick whirlwind, and shot up like light dust Above the ancient tower. And the fearless Sosruko leaned towards the fire and grabbed the firebrand - but clumsily grabbed it - the coal bounced off, fell on Inyzh, singed his eyebrow - his thick eyebrow lit up. The giant opened his only eye, counted the firebrands - One was missing: The brave sledge with the firebrand galloped far away! The giant shouted:
“Who robbed me? May my father punish you, son of a bitch!”
Without getting up, Inyzh suddenly stretched out his hands and lowered them over the threshold. He began to rummage around, searched seven roads. And Sosruko galloped Day after day - seven nights, And drove up to the river - It turned out to be the same in Inyzh’s hand!
The giant looked at the one who dared to ride away with a brand, and saw that he was all steel. And Inyzh thought: “This guy is a tough guy. Even though he’s a stupid little guy, he’ll replace my tooth!” So Sosruko found himself in the giant’s mouth. Sosruko was not embarrassed, He took out a deadly sword, He began to cut the gums of the Giant Inyzh. The one-eyed giant could not stand the intense pain: He immediately spat out the sledge. Dark-skinned Sosruko is free!
Then Inyzh exclaimed: “Listen, Nart baby, Fire Stealer! I have an enemy - Dark-faced Sosruko. Answer quickly: Where is he - the son of Satan, Dark-faced Sosruko? The Narts put Sosruko in a row with the giants, So they say about him: “He is stronger on earth All those sitting in the saddle, Stronger than the Giants is Dark-faced Sosruko!” Speak quickly: Where is he, the son of Satan, Dark-faced Sosruko?”
Sosruko answers: “At the foot of the mountains I am a shepherd of the Narts. My eyes have seen little, My ears have heard a lot. I have not seen Sosruko, But I have heard about Sosruko, Where the brave man is, I won’t say, But I’ll tell you about him.”
Inyzh answers: “If, Nart baby, You couldn’t tell me Where Sosruko walks, Then be able to show How Sosruko plays!”
Then Sosruko perked up, grinned, said the word: “There is no such person among the Narts that could repeat the Games of Sosruko. The Narts believe: there is no such Giant that could defeat Sosruko in the games!”
The one-eyed man got angry: “Don’t chat, you little shepherd, but start your stories about Sosrukov’s fun!”
“I heard that for Sosruko there is no sweeter game: He stands, our Sosruko, at the foot of the mountain; the Abra-stone is thrown by the Narts from this mountain; But the damask Sosruko is a real hero: He pushes back the flying Abra-stone with his forehead!”
“Can’t I do this? Come quickly, little shepherd, throw the stone over the cliff!”
Nart takes a huge stone And throws it from the mountain, The giant catches a huge stone with his forehead and pushes it with his forehead, Returns it to the top, Exclaims loudly: “Really, this is good fun! It makes hunting eat, And work is good for the forehead: The blows make the forehead stronger! I liked the game, But the fun is more difficult, Maybe, shepherd, you know?..”
Where, Sosruko, is your mind? Oh, the trouble with the one-eyed man: Death does not come to him! Here Sosruko takes the Giant away and says to the giant:
“The one whose name is Sosruko,” the Nart clan repeats, “Sinking to the ground, Opens his mouth; They put arrows in his mouth. And Sosruko, a skilled one, chews their heads, — He chews and laughs, And spits at the ends!”
“Fill my mouth full: I’m not afraid of this kind of work!” - The wide-mouthed giant grins and immediately falls to the ground, opens his large mouth. Sosruko fills it full with Arrows. The evil Inyzh doesn’t care about young Nart’s tricks! The giant chews the heads, And spits the ends of the arrows, And laughs at Sosruko:
“The Nart shepherd boy! Really, this is a good game: It gives the saliva a ferocity, And the teeth a steel strength! I liked the game, But the game is more difficult, Maybe, you know, shepherd?..”
Where, Sosruko, is your mind? Oh, the trouble with the one-eyed man: Death does not come to him! Here Sosruko takes the Giant away and says to the giant:
“The one whose name is Sosruko, amuses the soul with such daring fun: In front of him, the brave man, the Narts place a cauldron, They fill a Gigantic cauldron with lead, They put it on the fire, And they melt the lead Nine days and nights - This is the game of strongmen! Oh, it’s not for nothing that Sosruko is famous among the Narts! Here he sits in the lead, Which boils, which is molten, And he sits in the cauldron, Like a rider in the saddle, Waiting for the lead to finally harden!”
“Isn’t I able to do this?” says Inyzh with a yawn, “I’ll willingly sit in the cauldron!”
The young sled lights a fire - The cauldron is placed on the fire. Nine days and nights pass - And the lead in the cauldron is melted. The giant sits in the lead, It hardens with him, But with a mighty jerk he tears his body away from the lead, The one-eyed man exclaims: “I am pleased with my work, My body has become a hundred times stronger, I wanted to have lunch! I like your game, But the fun is more difficult, Maybe, shepherd, you know? But if you don’t know, it will be bad: I’ll amuse myself, I’ll melt you alive!”
Where, Sosruko, is your mind? Oh, the trouble with the one-eyed man: Death does not come to him! Dark-skinned Sosruko begins a speech like this:
“Oh, two-stranded, two-headed, Don’t rush to have dinner, So that I can tell you about the last fun: Where the streams of all seven seas rush into the deep ocean, boiling, - He descends into the abyss, Without reaching the bottom with his feet, Without taking in water with his mouth, The one called Sosruko. The old Narts blow, blow, Seven nights, seven days they cast a spell, Freeze the sea, The dark-skinned Sosruko is frozen in the sea. He is in the depths, dressed in ice, spends seven nights, seven days, waits for the dawn, proudly straightens his shoulders, breaks the ice and comes out.”
“Can’t I do this!” - The one-eyed man exclaims. The sled leads him there, where the streams of the seven seas rush into the deep, formidable ocean, merging. The Giant Inyzh descends into the abyss, trying not to touch the bottom with his foot and not to choke in the water. The cold came over Sosruko and froze the Giant in the depths of the ocean. He held the giant in that abyss for seven nights, seven days, and then he said: “Come out!”
The giant was not offended. Having strained, the one-eyed man moved his shoulders strong - the mighty ice cracked immediately. “Wait!” Sosruko cried. “I haven’t caught up with all the frosts, I haven’t filled up all the cracks, the ice is not very strong yet!”
The sled blew, snowstorms rose, the bitter frost crackled, and the streams of the seven seas became numb as they ran! The sled froze the Giant in the depths of the ocean, he bound the water with strong ice, and shouted to the evil freak:
“Hey, Inyzh, try, break out of the icy captivity!”
Having strained himself, the one-eyed man straightens his shoulders again, straining his strength angrily. Here the veins on the forehead are swollen, the only eye blinks, - It’s too late: in this mighty ice the one-eyed one is frozen! Taking the quick sword out of its sheath, Nart Sosruko thought: “I have bound the enemy securely, You can amuse the Soul - Behead the giant!”
But the fierce Inyzh blew and he threw Sosruko back two crossings at once. Sosruko galloped back, galloped up to Inyzh from behind, besieged Thozheya on the ice, to behead the villain, But the double-edged sword is powerless: It can’t cut off a hair And leave scratches!
The one-eyed man thundered: “If I weren’t stupid, I would have guessed right away by your thin calves, by your cunning games, that I see Sosruko: Death comes to Inizh!
Oh, damask Sosruko, you are a warrior horseman of the Narts! Don't work in vain, - You won't cut off heads, You'll only dull the sword! You better rise to the threshold of my tower, On the doors of my tower you will see a mighty sword. You will glorify this sword: You will behead Inyzh!”
Sosruko turned his horse and galloped towards the giant's tower. “Is there any cunning, deception, or trap in Inizh’s speeches?” Having thought so, the Nart Sosruko opens the doors of the tower, only he does not enter the tower, but he throws the log and instantly the mighty sword falls from the lintel and pierces the log.
Sosruko bends down, grabs the sword by the hilt, and Sosruko returns with Inyzha’s sword. The giant, seeing him, burst into loud sobs:
“Oh, Sosruko, warrior horseman, Damask Nart, stately warrior! I was calm, I thought that with my sword you would be Beheaded, that I would be rid of you forever. I see the sword in your hands, Death has come to Inyzh now. If so, in my death May you find joy, Nart. Behead me quickly, Pull the vein out of my neck, Gird yourself, and you will gain the strength of a Giant, and then none of the Narts and none of the Giants will be able to defeat you!”
Sosruko answered him: “I didn’t come for fairy tales, I came to your death, To get fire for the sledges, To save my friends from death. I don’t need your vein, Full of vile poison: Only the strength of man On earth is worthy of glory!”
Thus exclaiming, the Nart Sosruko beheaded the giant and sent his horse to his friends, capturing the fire of Inyzh. From the frost, from the blizzard, numbness, huddled in a heap, the mighty Nart, the flying horse, went out in bitter weeping. Sosruko galloped up to his friends and lit a hot fire, warmed up the horses and sledges. The Narts swore in the desert: “Oh, from now on we will not go anywhere without Sosruko - neither on campaigns nor on raids, We swear to that forever!”
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru