Once upon a time there lived a hunter named Khuregeldyn. No one loved animals as much as he did. And the animals loved him more than any other people. Maybe that’s why they gave him such a name - Khuregeldyn - Taiga Man.
Khuregeldyn will get up early in the morning, go into the fragrant taiga and begin to whistle various trills. Birds—swallows, crows, swans—fly to these sounds, but even more taiga animals gather. There is a fast squirrel, an agile ferret, a cunning sable and a long-eared hare. Foxes, wolverines, lynxes, and wolves come running after them. Stepping heavily, the bear comes, and in one leap the king of the taiga himself appears - the tiger. Khuregaldyn feeds them, caresses them, speaks their language. And none of the taiga animals will ever start a fight in front of him or grumble at their neighbor. So he lived in peace and harmony with all the inhabitants of the forest.
One day Khuregaldyn saw that his supplies were running out. “It’s time to go hunting,” he thought. “Otherwise I have nothing to eat myself, and nothing to treat the animals with.” He went to the taiga and whistled to his taiga friends. They ran to him, waiting for what he would say. Khuregaldyn harnessed them to the sledge and placed a gray wolf in front. I loaded the sled with food for four months of hunting, tightened the supplies with straps and set off.
The animals together picked up the sled and rushed forward. They're running - there's just a whistle. They drove like this and drove - night came. They stopped at a lonely hut and decided to spend the night. Suddenly the fox Solakichan came out to them and said:
- Brother! Let me help you!
- How can you help me? - asks Khuregeldyn.
- Give me the axe. “I’ll go chop some wood,” says the fox.
“Well,” Khuregeldyn agreed, “we just need firewood.” Go quickly!
The fox took the ax and ran into the taiga. She was there for a long time. Khuregaldyn wanted to follow her. Suddenly he hears someone’s voice, and such a plaintive one:
- Brother, brother! Come quickly and help me!
Khuregeldin ran into the thicket, began to look for the fox, and asked:
- What happened? Where are you?
“Here I am,” the fox sobs. “Oh, poor me, poor me!” She chopped wood and chopped off her leg with an ax. Oh, how painful it is!
A hunter ran up and didn’t know what to do. I beat the beast a lot, I saw a lot of blood, but this was the first time I saw the blood of my assistant. He looks at the fox’s leg, and there is either blood or red fur. The hunter wanted to ask where the blood was and where the severed leg was, but the fox wouldn’t let him say a word, she moaned and groaned:
- Khuregaldyn, take me in your arms! Put me on the sledge quickly, it will be easier for me. But you can’t see the blood because it’s all frozen. I froze the cut piece too. It will be better this way.
Khuregaldyn put it on the sled and thought: “What should I do? We must quickly take her to the shaman, otherwise she will die on the way. Then there will be no luck in the hunt.”
Khuregeldin harnessed his animals, made a bed of otter skins on the sled so that the fox would be warm and soft, covered her with a lynx blanket, and they set off.
They rode night and all day. The road is unknown to Khuregeldin; he has never been here before.
-Where are we going? Don't get lost! - he thinks out loud.
And the fox says:
- Brother, brother! I know these places! All the rivers, all the copses, all the hills are familiar to me here! You ask me!
The wolf rushed forward, the animals rushed, even the bushes on the sides were not visible. They are in a hurry to bring the fox to the shaman. They arrived at the river. Khuregaldin asks:
- Solakichan, what is the name of this river?
- This is the Zavyazochka River! - the fox answers, and she opened the birch bark bag with food.
Again the team rushed forward. They drove and drove, and again the river appeared in front of them. Khuregaldin asks:
- Solakichan, what kind of river is this? Is it still far to go?
- This is the Verkhushechka River! - the fox answers, and she took the meat out of the knapsack and began to eat.
The sled rushed faster than before. After some time, the river appeared ahead again. Khuregaldyn shouts to the fox:
- What is the name of this river?
— It’s called the middle! - the fox shouts, and she has already managed with half of the supplies.
And again they rode. And they saw a key that was making its way out from under the snow. Hunter asks:
- What is this key called?
“It doesn’t have a name yet,” the fox answers, but she eats and eats, there’s no time to even come up with a name.
The team rushes fast like the wind. It's already starting to get light. And here the river is on the way again. Only this is not a river, but a big river. Khuregaldyn asks the fox:
- Solakichan, does this river have a name or not?
“Yes,” answers the sly fox. “This is the Remnant River!”
By this time, the supply bag was already empty. The fox swallowed the last bite, licked its lips, yawned and thought: “It would be nice to have a rest.”
The animals pulled the sled all night and were tired. Khuregeldyn sees: a wolf runs ahead, stumbles - he’s tired. And then the river appeared again, and the end of the path was not in sight. Huregaldyn asks:
- Solakichan, what do you call this river?
- Yes, this is the river Upside Down! — Meanwhile, she turned the knapsack over and sat on it.
- How far is it from here to the shaman? - asks the hunter. “The animals are completely tired.”
“Not far,” the fox answers. “No more than two days of a good journey.” Let's spend the night here, on this river! Brother, you’re probably tired, you want to sleep and you’re hungry. We've been traveling for so long, we've never had a rest!
Khuregaldyn thinks: “Indeed, everyone is very tired and hungry. It’s time to rest and refresh yourself.”
- How’s your leg, little fox? - asks Khuregeldyn. - After all, you are in pain, you need to rush to the shaman.
And the fox answers:
- Nothing, brother! I'll be patient. I felt better. Let's set up a yurt, rest in it, and then hit the road again.
They quickly spread out the yurt, covered its top with birch bark cloth, and the bottom with elk skin. We entered the yurt, and everyone thought: “The yurt is big, there’s enough room for everyone. Now we can finally rest!”
The hunter was surprised: the fox was the first to jump off the sledge and dive into the yurt, as if her leg didn’t hurt.
- Khuregaldyn, go to the yurt! - the fox shouts. - Make the bed! I'm running for firewood!
- How? After all, your leg is severed! It must be difficult to walk, but you are going to the taiga! Suddenly you hurt your other leg. What are we going to do then?
And the fox cheerfully answers him:
- No big deal! Is it worth remembering this! I already feel good. I rested the whole way, and my leg healed. Look at yourself, at your friends. The leader is already lying down and cannot get up.
Khuregeldin thought and said:
- Well, perhaps you're right. I have enough work here too. Take the axe, just come back quickly! Be careful!
Khuregaldyn immediately got to work. He untied the straps on the sled, took off the cauldron and dishes. “Here,” he thinks, “the fox will come with firewood, we’ll make a big fire, fry the meat, cook thick porridge, bake fish on a spit. Let’s rest, and tomorrow we’ll go.”
I've done everything, but there's no fox yet. Khuregaldyn shouted loudly:
- Hey! Hey! Solakichan, Solakichan! Where are you? Answer me!
But no matter how much I listened, there was not a single sound in response. “Perhaps the poor thing is lying wounded? Maybe he’s dying?” - he thought and shouted again:
- Hey! Hey! Solakichan! Solakichan! Only silence was his answer. Dusk fell again. Khuregeldin went to the taiga. He walks and shouts:
- Solakichan! Solakichan! Where are you?
He goes deeper and deeper into the taiga. And then I noticed the tracks of a fox. She walked as if she was running away from someone. Khuregaldyn noticed an ax near a large tree. And he realized that the fox had deceived him. Out of frustration he said loudly:
- Eh, is this really what you do to friends?! He didn’t look for the fox any more, his head down
head, went back to the camp. He came, and his hungry comrades—his taiga friends—were waiting there. Khuregeldin was delighted.
— Unload the birch bark bag with food quickly! Bring some wood, we'll cook! - shouts.
The animals ran to the sledge and looked: and the bag lying on top was empty. Everyone guessed that the deceiving fox ate everything.
“Better look, maybe there’s some food left on the sled!” - shouts Khuregeldyn.
But no matter how much they searched, they found nothing, not even a crumb remained. Khuregeldyn says:
“If I had known that you, fox, were such a deceiver, I would have killed you and made a bedding out of your skin.”
Only then did he remember the strange names of the rivers: Zavyazochka, Top, Middle, Remnant, Upside down...
- Oooh! The red-haired villain left us without food! She brought us into such wilds that you don’t know how to get out! How could I believe her!
But nothing can be done. Night has fallen. They all went into the yurt and went to bed. Khuregeldyn lies there, thinking: “What to do next? Return home to the camp? Or follow in the footsteps of the fox, punish her for deception? He lay there and lay there and fell asleep.
In the morning Khuregeldyn woke up, left the yurt, saw: a girl had come out of the taiga, was coming to him, and asked:
-Where are you going? Where did you come from? Apparently you have something to do.
Khuregaldyn told how the fox deceived them.
- How far is it to walk home? - asks the girl.
“Very far,” answers Khuregeldyn. “So far that not a single taiga animal knows the way from here!”
- How will you go further? You don’t have food, you don’t know the road. And it’s only one day’s journey to my home. Let's come to me!
There is nothing to do. The hunter agreed. He harnessed his taiga animals to the sledge and went to visit. In half a day we reached the girl’s house. She fed everyone, gave them a rest, and in the morning she said:
- Khuregeldyn, in our area there are many different animals - both meat and fur. Go hunting today, and tomorrow you will decide for yourself whether you should go further or stay here.
Khuregaldyn agreed. He went to the taiga. As soon as he entered, he killed an elk. Then he only had time to pull out the arrows and shoot from the bow. He loaded as much loot as he could carry and returned to the girl’s house.
- Well, Khuregeldyn, did you decide to stay with me or go home?
Khuregaldyn looked at the girl again, and he liked her so much that he decided to marry her.
After the wedding, he stayed with his taiga friends in these places. Since then, Khuregeldyn goes hunting, and his wife takes care of the housework - she cooks dinners, sews robes and shoes, tans animal skins, embroiders beautiful ornaments, and takes care of animals.
One day my wife asks:
— Khuregaldyn, where did you find these animals? How did you become friends with them?
Khuregaldin answers:
“They came to me themselves and became my most loyal friends.” And when there are true friends, reliable helpers, then life becomes happy. Love my friends too, wife.
So they live happily ever after.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru