Once upon a time there lived a husband and wife. They didn't have children for a long time.
Finally a son was born. The boy's hair grew a little, his mother braided his hair and named him Khaidar-Kokul.
From an early age the boy loved animals, did not offend them and always felt sorry for them. Whether on the road behind the gate, or in his yard, he picked up every scrap of hay or straw and took it either to the bull who plowed the land, or to the horse he rode to the market.
But Khaidar-Kokul especially loved the little starving calf, who was always hungry and did not grow well.
In the spring, the family moved with their cattle to the field. One day, the father told Khaidar-Kokul to plow the field, and he himself went to the village to get household things.
Having put everything on the cart, the father mounted the horse and rode back. He drives carefree, sings songs. Suddenly the horse under him darted to the side, reared up and almost threw its rider to the ground.
He looked at the road and saw a fresh red sheep’s liver lying in the dust. No matter how much the horse's father beat him, the horse did not want to step over her.
Then the father bent down and wanted to throw her aside with the end of the whip. But as soon as the whip touched the liver, a decrepit, terrible old woman jumped out of it and shouted:
- How dare you disturb me! I was at a feast in the underworld, dancing and having fun, and you disturbed me! Now you will pay for this!
At the sight of the old woman, Khaidar-Kokul’s father was dumbfounded, and his horse backed away.
In an instant, the old woman turned into a monster round, like a ball, on small crooked legs, with a human head, and a large animal mouth, from which sharp fangs protruded.
- Now I've caught you! - the monster squealed. - You have lived long enough in the world! Either I will eat you now, or you will give me your son!
The father begged the diva for mercy and offered to give him all his livestock, but only asked to leave him, his wife and son alive. But the div was inexorable and ordered him
get off the horse. Then the father begged the div to allow him to go and consult with his wife, and the div let him go.
The gloomy father came to the field to his hut and told his wife and son what had happened to him. They began to think about what to do.
“I’ll go to the diva alone,” said Khaidar-Kokul and did not want to listen to any admonitions from his parents.
“If a cruel diva plans to destroy us, you still can’t hide from him,” said the father and mother. “Our son is young, brave, maybe he will overcome the diva.”
Khaidar-Kokul got on his horse and rode to the village. By agreement with his father, the div had to wait for an answer in the courtyard of their house.
So Khaidar-Kokul entered the gate and saw: in the middle of the courtyard lay a huge diva. Seeing the young man, the diva shouted:
- Oh, have you arrived? Well, get off your horse and chop some wood. In the evening I will light a fire, fry you and eat you. And while you are chopping wood, I will eat your horse.
And the div attacked Haydar-Kokul’s horse.
“I’ll run away,” thought Haidar-Kokul.
But no matter how many times he tried to escape, the miracle immediately overtook him and forced him to chop wood without a break.
Khaidar-Kokul's father could not calmly work in the field.
Leaving his crying wife, he begged a horse from a neighbor and rode to the village to his house.
Before he got there, he got off his horse and, leading him to the gate, pushed him into the yard, and hid behind the neighboring fence.
The delighted Haidar-Kokul quickly ran up to the horse, jumped on it and slipped through the gate. Div noticed everything, but did not show it.
As soon as Khaidar-Kokul, having ridden onto the road, started his horse to gallop, the div pulled out one tooth and threw it at the horse’s feet. The horse's legs gave way, and Khaidar-Kokul fell to the ground along with the horse.
Seeing this, Khaidar-Kokul's father fell to the ground unconscious. When he woke up, he decided that his son was no longer alive, and sadly returned to his wife.
Div drove Khaidar-Kokul back to the yard, again forced him to chop wood, and he himself began to eat the second horse.
The bull, left tied in a field near the hut, without seeing its owner, sensed something bad. He could not find a place for himself, rushed from side to side and, finally, breaking the leash, rushed to run home to the village.
Opening the gate with his muzzle, the bull entered the yard.
Khaidar-Kokul saw the bull, was delighted and jumped on its back. Div was eating his horse at this time, but kept a vigilant eye on Haydar-Kokul.
As soon as the bull ran out the gate, the div pulled out his second tooth and threw it
under the bull's feet. The bull's legs gave way, and Haydar-Kokul fell to the ground with him. Div again forced Haydar-Kokul to chop wood, and he himself began to eat the bull.
The little calf, having not seen Khaidar-Kokul for a long time, began to yearn for him. Running around the hut, he suddenly became so worried that he rushed through the arable land to the village to look for his pet.
The calf ran into the yard, saw the div and Haydar-Kokul, tired and weak, and said to him:
“Get on my back, let’s run away from the diva.”
- The horse and the bull could not escape from the diva and died. Where can you, a small and skinny calf, escape from him, and even with me? - answered Haydar-Kokul.
He was so weak from continuous work that he could not move. But the calf, with its young horns, dug a hole near Khaidar-Kokul, stood in it and ordered the boy to roll over onto his back. As soon as Haydar-Kokul found himself on the back of the calf, it quickly ran out of the gate.
Div at this time was finishing the bull and did not keep an eye on the calf and Khaidar-Kokul. He was sure that they would not run far. Div even regretted pulling out another tooth for the sake of such a small and skinny calf.
The calf tried to run faster and faster. There was a big puddle on the road. When the div chased the calf and wanted to grab it, the calf covered his eyes with sticky mud. Div could not continue the chase. And the calf and Khaidar-Kokul ran into the forest.
“You can’t return home,” said the calf. “The diva will quickly find you there.” Hide in the forest, and I will run to tell your parents that you are alive.
And the calf ran away.
It was quiet in the forest. Suddenly the breeze carried a plaintive squeak to Khaidar-Kokul. The young man ran in search and found a dead dog nearby, and two small puppies were crawling around it and asking for food.
Haydar-Kokul remembered that in his bosom he had two flatbreads, which his mother gave him with her in the morning. He chewed one cake and fed it to the puppies, and ate half of the second cake himself. He put the remaining half of the cake back into his bosom, stroked the puppies and moved on.
Haydar-Kokul decided to seek refuge in the forest. He walked and walked through the forest - he found nothing. He stopped, began to look around and suddenly saw that the puppies were running after him, not lagging behind.
Khaidar-Kokul gave the remaining half of the cake to the puppies, looked at them and was surprised: before his eyes, the puppies grew so quickly that after a little time they turned into big dogs.
Khaidar-Kokul wandered through the forest for a long time with his dogs and came to
a huge, dilapidated fortress with large cast-iron gates. Haydar-Kokul knocked on the gate. And he hears a sad female voice:
-Who's here and what do you want? A bird will fly here and break its wings! If a person gets here, he won’t come back alive! Leave quickly while you're still alive.
Haydar-Kokul was captivated by this voice, and he asked to open the gate.
The chains rattled, the bolts rattled, and the gate was thrown open by a young beauty. She told Khaidar-Kokul that here, under the mountain, her native village used to be. Div destroyed it, ate his parents, and made her his captive and forced her to serve him. So she sits, alone, in this empty fortress.
- What a miracle! - said Khaidar-Kokul. “I was running from the diva, but I ran straight to the diva’s house!”
The girl persuaded Khaidar-Kokul to leave quickly and as far as possible, if he was not tired of living, otherwise the diva would certainly eat him. But Haydar-Kokul did not want to leave the defenseless girl and remained in the fortress.
So that there would be somewhere to hide Haydar-Kokul when the diva came to the fortress, the girl dug a hole under the floor of the room, and covered the floorboards with a thick carpet on top. She prepared a secret nook in the backyard for the Haidar-Kokul dogs.
A few days later, in the evening, thunder suddenly roared and the wind whistled. The girl ran out of her room and shouted:
- Div is coming back, hide quickly!
Haydar-Kokul jumped into a hole under the floor, and the girl quickly covered the boards with a carpet. She quickly covered the entrance to the nook where the dogs were hidden with clay and covered it with a heavy stone.
Div noisily flew into the courtyard of the fortress.
Suddenly he smelled a human scent and began to interrogate who was in the house. He threatened to turn everything upside down if the girl did not show who she had hidden.
Then she took an oath from the diva that he would not harm anyone, and released Khaidar-Kokul from the pit.
When the diva saw Khaidar-Kokul, he gnashed his teeth and wanted to rush at him, but the beauty reminded him of his oath.
Div, Haydar-Kokul and the girl began to live together. The girl was thinking about how to save Haydar-Kokul from the diva, and Haydar-Kokul was thinking about how to save the poor beauty from the diva. Div was looking for a suitable opportunity to feast on Haydar-Kokul.
One day the div invited Haydar-Kokul to go hunting in the forest. Afraid of angering the diva, Haydar-Kokul agreed, and they began to gather.
The girl guessed that the div was up to no good, and before leaving, she quietly gave Haydar-Kokul a comb, a mirror and three arrows.
- If a diva chases you, throw a comb at his feet - a dense forest will grow. If the diva passes through the forest and chases you further, throw the mirror - a deep river will appear. “If the diva swims across the river and chases you further, throw three arrows - three tall poplars will grow, and fontanelles will flow from under them into a large house,” said the girl.
Div suggested that Haidar-Kokul hunt alone, as best he could.
They went in different directions. Khaidar-Kokul walked through the forest and came out into a clearing. He sees the diva sneaking behind him in the bushes. Haydar-Kokul rushed to whitewash. He looked around - the diva was chasing him, and was about to catch up. Then Khaidar-Kokul threw the comb behind his back, and a dense, dense forest grew behind him.
“The diva cannot pass through the thick thicket,” thought Khaidar-Kokul and went on.
Div pulled out one tooth - made an ax out of it, pulled out another tooth - made a saw out of it and began to make his way through the forest.
Haydar-Kokul sees that the div is catching up with him again. It's about to catch up! Then he threw the mirror behind him. A wide and stormy river flowed.
“You can’t swim across such a deep and fast river,” thought Khaidar-Kokul and ran on.
And the div tied heavy stones to his feet so that he would not be carried away by the current, and swam to the other side. Again he chased after Khaidar-Kokul, again began to catch up with him. He's about to catch it!
Then Haydar-Kokul threw three arrows, and immediately three tall poplars grew from them. A spring gushed out from under every poplar. The water of the springs flowed into a deep house.
Khaidar-Kokul climbed the first poplar. Div ran up to the tree and began to saw it. The tree has already been almost sawn through. Haydar-Kokul jumped to another. When another poplar began to break, the young man jumped to the third.
At this time, the dogs walled up in the fortress sensed that Khaidar-Kokul was in trouble and began to bark loudly. They scratched the walls with their paws, squealed and asked to come out. The girl heard dogs barking, realized that they sensed trouble and were rushing to help Haidar-Kokul. The girl released the dogs.
Like the wind, the dogs rushed into the forest towards Khaidar-Kokul. And Khaidar-Kokul looked into the distance from a high poplar tree, saw his dogs running to his aid, and laughed loudly. Div was already sawing down the third poplar with his teeth. Hearing Haidar-Kokul’s laughter, the div stopped sawing and asked:
- Why are you laughing? Or don't you see that your end is near?
- I want to laugh. before his death,” said Haydar-Kokul.
Div finished cutting down the third poplar, and it fell to the ground along with Khaidar-Kokul. Suddenly two huge dogs appeared in front of the diva, ready to rush
at him at his first movement. Div got scared, backed away, stumbled at the edge of the house, splashed into the water, sank to the bottom, and was no longer there. Even the water in the house did not stir.
- Well, now the diva is over! “Let’s go free the captive,” said Haidar-Kokul.
“No, it’s not over with the diva yet,” said the dogs. “He’s deliberately quiet, he wants to deceive you.” But we will jump into the water and kill him. Look at the water: if red blood appears, know, Haydar-Kokul, that the div killed us. Then run and save yourself. But if you see black blood on the water, it means the diva has been killed; then sit quietly and wait for us.
Khaidar-Kokul sat above the hauz and looked at the water, not taking his eyes off. Suddenly he sees red blood appearing in the water. Khaidar-Kokul jumped up and wanted to run and save himself, but black blood floated on the water and dogs immediately emerged from the water.
- Div is killed! - they said and showed his severed leg.
- But why did red blood appear on the water first, and then black? - asked Haydar-Kokul.
“At first the diva wounded us, but we immediately tore him into pieces,” answered the dogs.
Khaidar-Kokul took off his turban and bandaged the dogs’ wounds. And they all went to please the captive diva.
The girl was sitting in the courtyard of the fortress on a pile of stones. She was sure that the div broke his oath and ate Khaidar-Kokul, and now she herself expected the same fate.
In despair, she fell on the bare stones and cried bitterly. Suddenly the joyful barking of dogs reached her ears, and Khaidar-Kokul ran into the fortress.
He rushed to the girl and thanked her for her help in the fight against the diva.
They did not want to live in an old, dilapidated, gloomy fortress, and Haydar-Kokul led everyone to his parents.
The poor old people grieved all the time for their lost son. Although the calf brought them the news that Haydar-Kokul had run away from the div, they did not believe him. And the calf itself, apparently, sensed the troubles of its friend: it kept running around and could not find a place for itself.
When the old people saw Khaidar-Kokul alive and unharmed, and with a beautiful bride, they were incredibly happy about their happiness. Now they could live out their lives in peace.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru