There lived an old man and an old woman. They had a son and daughter. The son is a hunter, the daughter is a craftswoman. One day my son went hunting. I walked through the taiga for many days and did not meet a single animal. I'm completely tired. I sat down to rest. He sees tiger cubs playing under an old cedar tree, and a large snake crawls up to them. Its mouth is already open. The hunter felt sorry for the tiger cubs. He threw a spear and killed the snake.
The tigress returned, saw the killed snake and said to the hunter:
- Thank you for saving my tiger cubs. I will help you hunt.
The hunter rested and moved on. And the tigress ran ahead, found the elk and began to chase him towards the hunter. A hunter saw the elk and killed him.
While the hunter was walking through the taiga, the Iron Beak flew into his parents' yurt. Its feathers are made of iron, its beak and claws are also made of iron. He tore the chests of an old man, an old woman and a girl, took out their hearts with his claws, and imprisoned them as if they were alive. The old man seems to be sharpening a spear, the old woman seems to be patching clothes, the girl seems to be embroidering.
The hunter returned in the evening. He placed the elk near the yurt and shouted:
- Hey, help me bring in the elk! Nobody comes out.
"What's happened?" - the hunter thinks. He entered the yurt. He got angry, pushed his sister on the shoulder - the sister fell, pushed his mother - the mother fell, pushed his father - the father fell. The hunter bent over them and looked - everyone’s chest was torn, their hearts had been taken out. The hunter was in pain. Who could do this?
- he thinks. - No matter who does it, I will still find the enemy and avenge my relatives.
He took a spear and a bow and went into the taiga. He walked and walked and saw the yurt standing. He enters the yurt, there is a hunched old woman sitting there.
-Where are you going, young hunter? - the old lady asks him.
“I’m going to look for my enemy,” the hunter answers, “I don’t know who he is.” He killed my relatives and took out their hearts.
“The Iron Beak killed them.” “He hunts for people’s hearts,” says the old woman. – He recently flew over the taiga. Probably sitting in a larch grove and resting. Take my daughter - Copper Ear. She will show you where the Iron Beak rests.
As soon as the old woman said this, a beautiful girl entered the yurt.
“Come with me, young hunter,” says the smiling girl and extends her hand to him.
The hunter wanted to take her hand, he looked - and she was no longer in the yurt. He came out of the yurt - a huge bird stood in front of him, its feathers were copper. This girl turned into the bird Copper Ear. “You need to quietly approach the Iron Beak,” says Copper Ear. - He's not afraid of me. And you will go under my wing.
Fuck them. Copper Ear spread its wing and covered the hunter with it. So they reached a larch grove: On a tall larch with four branches, an iron beak sits on the top and cleans its feathers.
- Iron beak, why are you killing people? - asks Copper Ear.
- Get out of here quickly. “Otherwise I’ll eat you,” answers Iron Beak.
Copper Ear raised her wing, a hunter came out from under it and shot at Iron Beak. The arrow hit the chest of the scary bird, pierced the feathers and got stuck. The iron beak fell, caught on a branch and hung. The hunter climbed the larch tree. The iron beak fell to the ground. She grabbed his Copper Ear and shouted to the hunter:
- Get down quickly! I'll hold.
But the hunter doesn’t seem to hear, he climbs higher and higher onto the larch tree. The iron beak broke out and flew to its yurt. The hunter from the larch saw where he sat down, got down and said to the Copper Ear:
- Thank you for your help. Now I know where Iron Beak's house is, I'll go there.
“Iron Beak has seven robber brothers,” says Copper Ear. - They will kill you. Iron Beak heard steps and said to his father:
- Look where the person is coming from: if there is an enemy on this side, kill him; if on the other hand, call me to the yurt.
An old man came out and looked - a hunter was coming from the east. I called him into the yurt. The hunter entered and saw the Iron Beak lying there and groaning.
- Are you sick? - asks the hunter.
“He was hunting,” the old man answers, “but he ran into a branch.” Maybe you are a shaman, fly then.
“I hold the tambourine a little in my hands,” the hunter answers.
He took a tambourine, struck it three times and said:
- Uh, a difficult disease. She must be treated in a separate hut. Make a hut and do not enter it. I will drive out the spirit. If someone screams, it’s still not allowed. If someone enters a hut, the evil spirit will see and will not leave the sick person. The patient will then die. Just come in the morning.
They built a hut and carried the wounded man there. The hunter entered the hut and said:
“It was I who wounded you, Iron Beak.” Why did you kill people? Now your death has come. You'll die at night. If you call for help, no one will come to you - neither your brothers, nor your father.
The hunter said and left. And the Iron Beak began to die and shouted:
– Father, brothers, help, I’m dying!
The father heard and wanted to run to help, but his sons grabbed him by the hands and said:
“It’s an evil spirit coming out of him.” You can't go to him. The shaman did not order.
They entered the hut in the morning. They look, Iron Beak lies dead.
- Oh, the shaman deceived us! - the robber brothers shouted.
- Or maybe it’s not a shaman? Young hurts - . said the old man.
- Whoever he is; “We will catch up with him and kill him,” answered the robber brothers. They took spears and rushed after the hunter.
The woodpecker saw the robber brothers, flew to the hunter, sat on the branch of an elm tree and said:
- Kvar-kvar-kan... Firk-fark-vann... Ginn-gynn... Hunter, the robber brothers are chasing you. They will kill you.
“If you want to help me, fly to the old cedar and tell the tigress,” the hunter answers.
The woodpecker flew away. He flew to an old cedar, sat on a branch and said to the tigress:
- Kvar-kvar-kan... Firk-fark-vann... Ginn-gynn... Tigress, tigress, tigress, the hunter who saved your tiger cubs sent me. Seven robber brothers are chasing him, they want to kill him.
The tigress barked and ran to help the hunter.
The robber brothers chased the hunter for a long time. We finally caught up with him. The hunter stood with his back to the thick poplar, raised his spear and said:
“I won’t fall into the hands of someone alive.” Whoever is first, come!
Robbers began to surround him. Suddenly a tigress ran out of the thicket. How she looks at the robbers - her eyes are big with anger - and how she growls! Twigs flew from the trees. The robbers got scared, threw down their spears and fled in different directions.
And the young hunter went home. He came and looked: his mother, father and sister were standing near the yurt, and next to them was a beautiful girl. But this Copper Ear is standing with them, he thought.
-Who revived you? – the hunter asks his parents.
“She revived,” points to the Copper Ear. – She inserted the hearts of wapiti into us.
– Thank you, Copper Ear. You have done a lot of good things for me.
“I always help good people,” the girl answers, “that’s what the law of the taiga teaches.”
“Marry me,” says the hunter.
“Any girl will marry a good hunter,” answers Copper Ear.
And they all began to live together.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru