Once upon a time, a young man named Tubo and his mother, whose name was Bibi, lived together. They ate only vegetables from their gardens. One day Bibi told her son:
“If only I could eat some fish, I’m so tired of these vegetables!” Tubo went into the forest, to the big cauharo tree, and
told him:
- Get smaller.
The tree became very small, and then Tubo sat on it and said:
- Stand tall and tall.
The tree immediately grew, and Tubo found himself near the sky. From here he could see very far. Ahead he saw the sea and reefs in it, and turning around, he saw land with
gardens where many people worked. “I thought there were no people there, but look how many of them are working in the gardens!” Tubo said to himself.
He looked around, and then again said to the Kauharo tree:
- Get smaller.
The tree became very small again. Tubo got up from him and returned to the hut. When the mother came home from the gardens, she asked:
- Tubo, what did you do without me?
“I was at home all the time,” he told her, “I didn’t go anywhere.”
The next morning, when Bibi went to the garden again, Tubo took a spear and a rope, again went to the Kauharo tree and again said to him:
- Get smaller.
The tree became very small, Tubo sat on it, and it lifted him to the very sky.
“Lean over to that reef,” Tubo said to the tree. The tree obeyed, and the top of it, on which he sat
Tubo sank to the reef itself. Tubo jumped onto the reef and began to hit the fish and turtles with a spear. When he decided that enough was enough, he strung everything on a rope, hung it on a tree, sat down on it again and said:
“Now take me back home.”
The tree lifted him up and he sang: “Mother doesn’t know where I’ve been, but I was on the reef, fishing!”
From above, Tubo saw several girls. He really liked one, and he heard that the other girls called her Bibi - the same as his mother’s name. Tubo sang, “I like Bibi, oh how I like Bibi!”
The mother heard the song and was very surprised: “What is this strange song? What kind of bird is this that sits on a tree and sings it? Where did she come from?
Tubo came down from the tree as the day before, came to his mother, gave her the catch and said:
- Here's a fish for you, cook it.
“Where did you get it?” the mother was surprised.
“Far from here,” answered Tubo. The mother cooked the fish and they ate.
In the morning, the mother went to the garden again, and Tubo again ordered the tree to be moved to the reef and again speared a lot of fish. On the way back, he saw a girl named Bibi below and began to sing again. The girl looked up.
“Who’s singing there?” she asked.
- It's me, Tubo!
The tree lowered him to where the girl stood, and he gave
her fish.
“Your name is Bibi?” he asked her.
- Yes, Bibi. Do you live with your parents?
- We live alone with our mother, but we have more family. no.
After that, Tubo returned home and gave the rest of the fish to his mother.
The next day, Tubo again went to the reef for fish and on the way back again went down to the girl and gave her the fish.
“Tomorrow I will come for you, I want to marry you,” he told Bibi.
He returned to his mother and gave her the fish.
“Tomorrow I won’t go for fish, I’ll stay at home,” he told her. “You go to the garden, and I’ll rest.”
In the morning, when his mother went to the garden, Tubo, just as before, went for the girl. She was already waiting for him, and the tree carried them both to his home. He led the girl into the hut, and then went to the garden to fetch his mother. He said:
- Mother, why do you work so much? Let's better go home.
They went home, and Tubo said to his mother: . - You come in first.
The mother came in and was very surprised.
“Oh, who is this girl in our hut?” she exclaimed. “Tubo, where did she come from?”
Tubo told his mother how he found this girl. Mother said:
“What if her relatives come and kill us because you took her away without permission?”
Tubo answered her:
“She has no relatives, she lived alone, and we have no one to fear.”
The next day, Tubo and his wife went to where she had lived before and took with them her things and the pig that she had. At home they slaughtered a pig and ate their fill of meat, and then the mother said to her son:
“I’m old, the garden will now be yours.” Work on it with your wife, and it’s time for me to rest.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru