Hadji Smela had an only son named Khadjaja. A river flowed not far from his house. Every morning he went there to wash.
One morning, when Hadji Smel, as usual, leaned towards the river, someone grabbed him by the beard.
Hadji Smel shouted:
- Let me go! If you let me go unharmed, I'll give you whatever you want!
- Give me your son, I don’t need anything else! – a voice rang out.
- No. “I’ll give you everything else, whatever you want, but don’t ask for your only son,” said Smel.
However, the hand continued to hold his beard. Smel sees that all requests are in vain, and says:
- Okay, I agree, just wait until tomorrow!
Before he had time to say this, he felt that his beard was free, no one was holding it.
The next day, in the morning, Hadji Smel and his son went to the river and began to wash. Suddenly someone grabbed him by the beard again and asked if he had brought his son?
Hadji Smel replied:
- I am very rich - take everything, but I beg you - leave me my son!
However, the one who was in the river did not agree, and then Hadji Smel said:
- Wait a little, I’ll bring my son. At this time, Hajjaja shouted:
- I'm here! - and rushed to the river.
At that very moment he disappeared into the water.
Clutching his head, Hadji Smel returned home.
And the boy, as it turned out, was taken in by Aerg,
He had no one except his mother and sister. Aerg raised the child very well and only took care of him.
A lot of time has passed. Hajjaja grew up and became a young man. He was a smart, dexterous guy, he went hunting and brought back game.
One day Hajjaja noticed that in the west, before sunrise, something was shining. This did not give him peace, and he asked Aer-ga, his teacher:
– What is it that shines in the west before sunrise? Aerg replied:
“This is how the only daughter of the forest king shines.” He lives by the sea. His palace is surrounded by inaccessible mountains and impenetrable forests. You can only get to it through a cave, the entrance of which is guarded by an evil cannibal giant. Every morning the king's daughter sticks out her little finger and it shines for the whole world to see.
- No matter what happens to me, I will go to her and take her as my wife! - Hajjaja exclaimed.
- Hai! No one returns from there alive. We were five brothers, but all my brothers died because of her! – Aerg said with alarm.
“I may die, but I must go there!” - the young man insisted.
Aerga's mother and sister dressed in deep mourning, sat barefoot by the fireplace and began to cry bitterly. By this they wanted to make Hajaja think twice - they were sure that they would not see him alive. But nothing could stop Hajjaja.
He took with him two peers who were close friends with him, were equally good at oars and sails, and knew the entire coast of their country. They decided to go on a journey by sea, to the farthest place, where the sun sets. They put supplies in a reliable boat, took two more helpers and set sail. The wind was fair. They sailed like this for several days. Suddenly a storm broke out at night and nearly drowned them. In the morning, a wave carried them to the shore of an unfamiliar land.
They landed safely and found themselves in a meadow. There was a swarm of tall reeds all around, mixed with lush green grass that reached their knees. The reeds smelled of honey, and when they cut the stem of one of them, thick golden honey began to flow out. They ate their fill of it. Then Hajaja and his peers moved on, leaving two assistants to guard the boat.
Having passed the thickets of reeds, they saw a dense forest blackened beyond the meadow and cliffs overgrown with bushes. On the way they noticed someone's huge footprints. We walked along them and came across a flock of sheep. The sheep were fat and large. They saw the travelers, got scared and rushed forward. Then a shepherd came out to meet them. It was a cannibal giant. Hajjaja and his companions were at a loss. It was too late to escape - the giant drove them along with the herd into a cave with an iron gate. He let the cattle through, closed the gate and rolled a huge stone against it from the inside. Then the giant lit a fire, pulled out a spit, the length of a grape pole, from a hole in the wall, and put it into the fire, while he lay down to rest.
When the skewer became red-hot, the giant pulled it out of the fire, grabbed one of Hajjaji’s peers, pierced him with the skewer, not paying any attention to his cries, placed it over the fire, fried it and ate it. Then he took up the spit again and did the same with Hajjaji’s second comrade.
Having had his fill, he put an armful of hay under his head, drank honey from a wineskin and, turning on his side, began to snore.
Hadji Smel's son faced the same fate as his friends. For a long time he puzzled over how to avoid death, and then he decided to blind the giant, and then somehow get out of the cave. Hajaja took a spit, heated it red-hot and, having tried it on, stuck it into the eye of the sleeping giant. Without allowing him to come to his senses, he immediately burned out his other eye. Then Hajaja hid for the time being among the sheep. So that the blind giant would not catch him, he asked the price of the ram, spread out under its belly, and got out of the cave along with the herd.
It was midday when Hajjaja approached the gates of the palace where the luminous girl lived. All the stakes around the palace had human heads on them; only one head was missing. The gates were locked and no one could open them.
At this time, all seven of the girl’s brothers were hunting. Their only sister lay on the seventh floor of the palace. She had never seen the sun, her foot had never stepped on the grass.
The son of Hadji Smela went up to the seventh floor, opened the door, walked in and froze: the girl was lying on her back and sleeping. She illuminated everything around her.
The young man called out to her once, twice, but could not wake her up. I called out for the third time - the girl woke up and screamed: “Who dared to come to me?”
She jumped up, quickly dressed, rushed at the horse, and they began to fight. They fought for many days and nights, finally the girl could not stand it and fell. Having fallen, she began to shine again. Seeing her like this, the young man was stunned.
The girl said:
– No matter who I fought with, I defeated everyone, no one in the world could knock me to the ground! And I swore that I would only marry someone who could defeat me. My brothers are hunting now, but if they come, they will kill you. Where should we go?
- If so, let's run away! - the young man cried. Khadjaja and his bride ran to the seashore to the boat.
In a nutshell, he told his companions about the death of his comrades and how he got the daughter of the forest king. They set sail and set sail. But at that time the bride’s brothers appeared - the blinded giant managed to tell them everything. They began to throw stones, but they did not reach the boat, and Hajjaja managed to escape. After a long, difficult voyage, Hajjaja returned first to his tutor and then to his father forever. Both of them feasted and had fun for a long time...
Of course, it is more difficult to accomplish a feat than to talk about it!
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru