In one region there lived a brave and accurate hunter. His fame spread throughout the world. He had a daughter and a son.
The king called the hunter to his side to guard the palace from the Kajis: the insidious evil Kajis kidnapped the young men, and the king feared for his sons.
Time has passed. The hunter's son turned eighteen years old, and he wanted to go hunting to try his hand. But his mother did not let him in alone:
“It’s dangerous to walk alone, son.” Kaji roam the forests. Go with your uncle.
The young man agreed and asked if they had any weapons.
“There are bows and arrows,” says the mother, “but you can’t lift them!”
- Show me. If they don't suit me, I won't go hunting.
His uncle took him to the attic and showed him a bow and a quiver of arrows. The young man playfully took the bow and easily grabbed the quiver. I saw a sword in the corner and easily picked it up.
The uncle darkened with annoyance and envied his nephew’s strength: he himself could not lift that sword with both hands.
They went hunting. The young man shot game, but his uncle could not kill anything, and he decided to take the spoils from his nephew. He led the young man into a thicket where there were wild boars, and he hid in a hole.
The wild boars flew at the young man, but the young man was not afraid and killed everyone. Then the uncle climbed out of the hole and said that he had accidentally fallen. He began to praise his nephew, but he himself was stifled by anger. Envy sharpens his heart: older brother
stronger than him and his nephew surpassed him in strength. He planned to destroy the young man.
“You are brave, brave, like your father,” he says to his nephew. “Get the magic Bozhmi flower for your mother, you will make her happy.”
—Where does the Bozhmi flower grow?
- Go south through the forest. When you go out to the edge of the forest, you will see a house, and in the house - an old woman. She will show the way.
The young man walked and reached a house at the edge of the forest.
An old giantess, the deva’s mother, sits under a tree in the courtyard, tugging at sheep’s wool. A young man approached her, greeted her warmly and asked:
- Don’t know, mother, where to find the Bozhmi flower?
- Follow the sun and you will see a high rock. The bottom of the rock is black, the middle is red, and the top is white. In the evening, the beautiful Bozhmi will appear on that rock and let down her long golden hair - it will fall to the very ground! There are flowers at the ends of the hair. Hide under a rock and pick a flower from your hair.
The young man thanked the old giantess and followed the sun to the west.
The sun reached the west, the young man reached the rock. He hides at the foot and waits.
Then the beautiful Bozhmi appeared on the rock and let down her golden hair. They hung from the cliff all the way to the ground, and at the ends of the hair there were flowers - motley, rainbow, glowing, shimmering with all colors! The young man's eyes flashed and he hesitated. If only he could wrap a strand of golden hair around his hand, he would be able to pick a flower. How was he to know that the treacherous old giantess did not deliberately warn him?
Bozhmi entangled the young man with her hair and threw him over a rock to her kingdom of Kajeti.
They waited for the young man at home, waited and stopped waiting - they mourned and realized that he was missing.
The father-hunter found out what trouble had happened in his house, and asked the king for leave to look for his son.
The hunter came home and began to get ready for the journey.
“Father, give me a weapon,” his daughter tells him, “let me go look for my brother.”
The father grinned: what the hell are you doing, minding your own business, but he didn’t object.
The girl put on a man's dress, girded herself with a short sword, jumped on a horse and set off.
The father quickly changed clothes, bridled another horse and rode across his daughter. He jumped out onto the road in front of her, grabbed the horse by the bridle and shouted:
- Get off your horse!
The girl did not recognize her father and swung her sword:
- Get out of the way, robber!
With one blow she knocked the hunter out of the saddle. She then jumped to the ground and raised her sword over him, but then her father held her hand:
__ Stop, daughter! It's me, your father! I see that you are worthy of me. Go
look for your brother.
The girl traveled all over the kingdom, searched the forests and mountains - her brother was nowhere to be found. “The Kaji probably kidnapped him. “I’ll go to Kadzheti,” she decided.
And who knows where Kadzheti is, in which direction? People haven't been there.
A girl is driving without a path, without a road. By evening she found herself on the seashore.
Empty all around - water and sand, no trees, no crops. Just a ramshackle shack on the shore.
The girl knocked on the shack. The old lady came out. The girl asked to stay overnight. The old lady warmly received the guest.
She shared her meager dinner with her and asked:
- What wind brought you to this deserted place?
“I’m looking for the way to Kadzheti,” answered the girl. “Do you know, grandma, how to get there?”
“I don’t know how to get there, but I’ll try to help you.”
The old woman took the guest out into the yard and pointed out to the sea. The girl froze in surprise - there was darkness all around, and between the sea and the sky the palace was shining, glowing with a bright light.
“There is a captive from Kadzheti in the palace,” says the old woman. “This is her beauty.”
it lights up the whole palace. She did not want to become the wife of our king, and he ordered the sorcerers to lift the palace into the air so that no one could see her. Then the sea raged, all the houses around were demolished, all the people were swallowed up, including the king. I was in the mountains at that time, collecting roots, and that’s why I remained alive. I’ve put together this little shack and I’m getting by somehow. And there is no life, and death has forgotten about me. And the captive in the palace knows where Kadzheti is, so you can get to her.
The hunter's daughter thought all night about how to free the captive, and came up with an idea.
In the morning the girl said goodbye to the kind old lady, thanked her for her hospitality and drove along the seashore. I reached the city. There she sold the horse, bought a ship, hired carpenters and ordered a long staircase to be made.
She sailed on a ship to the palace, placed a ladder and climbed up it.
She calls the captive, asks to open the doors for her, but no one responds.
“Don’t be afraid!” shouts the hunter’s daughter. “I came to save you from trouble!” Show me the way to Kajeti!
The captive came out, all glowing with light. She and the hunter's daughter went down to the ship, and they returned to the shore.
The girls went to Kadzheti. They go for a year, then another, and are already halfway there. And suddenly, in a narrow gorge, a Fire Deva descended on the road in front of them. I’m lying down and there’s no way around me, but flames are pouring out of my mouth.
“Let us through, dev,” asks the hunter’s daughter.
“Promise me to get a magic lantern from the palace of King Kajeti, then I’ll let you in.”
- I promise, just let me through.
“There is no faith in the man’s words, let one of you stay here.”
“Okay, but you lie as you are, on your side, otherwise you won’t be able to get a lantern.”
The girl from Kadzheti remained, and the hunter's daughter moved on. She goes through fields and rivers, through forests and mountains. A year goes by, then another. And then the towers of Kadzheti appeared in the distance - tall, reaching into the sky. And then a three-headed deva riding on a rashi blocked her path.
“How far are you going?” he asks the hunter’s daughter.
- In Kadzheti.
“They won’t let you in there, they’ll kill you.” “I’d rather eat you,” says the dev.
“It’s not your concern whether they’ll let you in or not... Get out of the way!” the girl answers.
- I'll eat you anyway.
“How can you eat me if I’m bolder and more dexterous than you!” says the Hunter’s Daughter. “Let’s check it, you’ll see for yourself.” You see that ditch over there - I can easily jump over it, but you can’t jump over it!
This Dev was strong, but stupid. He jumped off his horse and jumped over the ditch! And the ditch was wide, very wide, the devas touched the edge with their feet and rolled to the bottom.
The girl quickly jumped onto the Rashi Dev and flew on like a bird.
The winged horse instantly carried the hunter's daughter to the gates of Kadzheti. The gates converge and diverge, so quickly that if you cannot pass through them, they will cut the daredevil in two with diamond edges.
The girl hit the horse with her heels, and like lightning he flashed between the gate doors, only his tail was cut off.
The hunter's daughter drove up to the palace and froze in place in amazement. There are a lot of people in front of the palace, and all of them are petrified! And the palace is outlandish - its bottom is silver, its top is gold. Terrible animals are looking out of the windows, chained to the walls. Two veshapi guard the entrance.
Without thinking twice, the hunter’s daughter grabbed the sword, chopped up both veshapi and entered the palace.
The marble hall is also full of people. And they are all alive from head to waist, and below are stone. Suddenly the hunter’s daughter hears her name being called. She looks, and it’s her brother! They hugged and kissed. The young man told how he got to Kadzheti, how Bozhmi entangled him with her hair and threw him into her kingdom.
“Hide, sister, otherwise the cruel Queen of God will come.” She will not spare you, she will turn you to stone too!
- Don't be afraid, brother. I can handle it! She hid behind the door and waited. Queen Kajeti Bozhmi entered.
The hunter's daughter grabbed her with one hand by her golden hair with flowers at the ends, and with the other she raised her sword.
- Now petrify my brother! Revive the people and return the tail to my horse!
God spoke the word, and all the people around came to life. They sighed, started talking, and laughed with joy.
The captives conspired and imprisoned the cruel queen in a blind tower, and the hunter’s daughter took a magic lantern, which lit up in the dark, and left Kadzheti with her brother.
Now they reached the gorge where the Fire Deva lay.
- Get up, Dev, I brought you a lantern! - says the hunter's daughter.
But the dev cannot get up - he lay on one side for three years, his side became completely numb. The brother and sister turned the deva onto his other side - let his other side go numb now - and went further together with the girl from Kajeti.
The girl said that she was not from Kadjeti at all. The Kaji kidnapped her as a child and took her to their kingdom, and then the king kidnapped her from the Kaji and imprisoned her in a palace between the sky and the sea.
The three of them were walking along the road, and suddenly a dwarf appeared in front of them - as if he had grown out of the ground! - he was as tall as a span, and his beard was two spans long.
“Do you want me to take you in a stroller?” he offers.
“Where did you get the stroller?” the hunter’s daughter laughs.
The little man whistled, waved his whip, and a carriage with four people appeared. Horses are a sight to behold! They should play in the sky with the stars, frolic in the sea with the fish!
“It’s better to go on foot,” the sister says to her brother. “Don’t expect any good from this little man.”
The brother did not listen to his sister. What are you supposed to be afraid of? What will the old man do to us? With one click, his stroller will scatter like an eggshell.
The three of them sat in the carriage.
The dwarf, like a flea, jumped onto the goats, whipped the horses, and they flew like birds.
In the evening, the travelers stopped to rest under a tree. They eat themselves and treat the dwarf. The hunter's daughter wanted to drink, and she said:
- Go, little man, look for a spring, bring a jug of water!
- I'm not your water-carrier! If you want to drink, go into the water yourself,” says the dwarf angrily.
She went to look for a spring.
And the dwarf jumped up, hit the hunter's son with a backhand, and he fell dead. The dwarf grabbed the girl by the hair and dragged her to his home. He drags the poor thing, and a trail follows her along the ground.
The hunter's daughter searched for the spring for a long time, and when she returned with water, she saw that there was no girl, no dwarf, no horses. Only my brother lies on the ground, barely alive. She sprinkled him with cold water, gave him something to drink, and the young man woke up. They followed the trail to look for the girl.
The trail led them to a cave. The entrance to the cave is blocked with a huge stone.
Then the captive girl heard footsteps and guessed that her brother and sister wanted to rescue her.
“Don’t make any noise, otherwise the freak will wake up and kill you,” she tells them. “Hide nearby, and I’ll find out what his strength is.”
The freak dwarf woke up three days later and saw his captive shedding tears.
“Don’t cry, beauty, you won’t feel bad with me,” says the dwarf.
- I'm not grieving for myself. I'm afraid for you! You were sleeping, and one of the devas almost burst in here. What if he eats you!
“If he doesn’t eat it, he won’t be able to chew it, but if he swallows it, I’ll still remain safe and sound.”
- He will kill you!
- He won’t kill, he won’t be able to - my soul is not with me.
- Where is it?
- Over there in that broom.
The girl grabbed the broom and pressed it to her:
“I’ll take better care of my eyes!” The freak laughs:
- Drop the broom, stupid, my soul is not in it! No one can reach my soul, it is in a black and white fish, and that fish swims between two seas in a third. The fish is my strength, my mind and my life.
Brother and sister heard the entire conversation.
The hunter's daughter left her brother to guard the cave, and she herself went to the city by the sea. There she sold a magic lantern from Kajeti to a rich merchant, bought boats and ordered fishermen to weave nets.
Between two seas, in the third, a girl and fishermen began to catch black and white fish.
The fishermen cast their nets for many days and nights and finally caught a black and white fish. The hunter's daughter ripped open the belly of a fish, and in the belly there was a box!
The girl said goodbye to the fishermen, left them boats and nets in gratitude, and went back to the cave.
The hunter’s daughter walks by and thinks: “Let me see what’s in the box?” I opened the box slightly, and a bird flew out of there - and it was gone. It was the dwarf's power that flew away.
And at that time the dwarf was leaving the cave, and as soon as the bird flew out of the box, he fell exhausted to the ground.
The hunter's daughter returned and saw the freak lying on the ground, looking angrily at her brother, but she couldn't do anything - there wasn't a drop of strength left in him!
- You have deprived me of my strength, at least leave me with my life!
- Well, no! You'll hurt someone else!
The hunter's daughter opened the box and released two more birds: they scattered in different directions. The end has come for the dwarf.
The brother and sister entered the cave, and there were countless treasures. They filled the khurjins with semi-precious stones and gold, loaded them on one of the four horses, and sat on the other three and rode home.
The hunter and his wife did not want to see their children alive, and so they returned and even brought a beautiful girl-bride.
The king heard what a beauty lived in the hunter's house, and wanted to take her away, but he was afraid of the hunter's daughter - the fame of her courage spread throughout the world.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru