In the Caucasus Mountains there lived a hunter, Shamil, a brave and stately young man, who only fed himself and his old mother by hunting. One day he was hunting in a dense forest. The sun was already setting, and yet nothing caught his eye. Shamil wanted to return home empty-handed, but what happiness - he noticed an eagle of extraordinary size on a large plane tree. Shamil took aim and was about to pull the trigger, when suddenly the eagle said in a pleading voice:
- Don't kill me, Shamil! I will be useful to you in trouble. Here's one of my feathers; when you feel bad, warm it on the fire, and I will appear immediately.
Shamil hid the pen and moved on.
A little later he comes across a wild goat. Shamil grabs the gun again, but the goat begs in a human voice:
- Spare me, Shamil! Here's a hair from my beard; It will come in handy in case of danger!
Shamil took the hair and moved on.
It had already become completely dark. Shamil ate the last piece of bread, climbed a spreading tree and, snuggling between two branches, slept well. When the sun rose, he jumped out of the tree and continued hunting. He didn’t come across any game, and yet he ate as much fear as he wanted. Then he went down to the seashore, deciding to cast a fishing rod. A few minutes later he pulled out an unusual fish with golden scales. The golden fish began to beg him in a human voice:
- Let me go, Shamil! I will be useful to you in trouble. Here's one of my scales, just in case!
Shamil took the scales and released the fish. Then Shamil again headed into the forest. In the forest he comes across a fox; he took aim at her, but she began to ask him in a pleading voice:
- Don't touch me, Shamil! I will be useful to you in case of danger. Better take a hair from my tail!
Having said this, she pulled out a hair from the tail and gave it to Shamil.
Hunger was terribly tormenting him, and he walked along the seashore, hoping to get something there. Whether he walked long or short, he reached an unfamiliar city. Entering the city gates, he entered a poor hut, in which an ancient old woman was fiddling around the fireplace. He asked her if she had anything to eat; It turned out that she herself sat all day without bread. Then Shamil took out the gold and sent her to the market for provisions. Soon the old woman returned and brought plenty of everything. Shamil invited the old woman to have a meal, and when they had both eaten their fill, he asked her what was new in their city.
– It’s better not to ask, dear guest! - answered the old lady. Shamil began to insist that she tell everything she knew. Then she said the following:
“Our city is ruled by a khan who has only his only daughter; she has a spyglass through which she sees everything on earth, in the sky and in the sea. She declared that she would only marry someone who could hide in such a way that he could not be found. You can hide three times, but if you fail after the third time, the unfortunate person must die on the gallows. And since this girl is unusually beautiful, many young men from our city tried to win her hand, but, of course, they became victims of this bloodthirsty woman. There is weeping and groaning in the city, since there is no family that has not lost one or two young people; and I also mourn the loss of two handsome sons, my breadwinners. The number of all victims is exactly ninety-nine; One more is missing, and, in all likelihood, the hundredth is you, unfortunate one!
“I’ll try too,” said Shamil and, saying goodbye to the old woman, he headed to the Khan’s palace. Entering there, he noticed the khan's daughter sitting on an ottoman and surrounded by a large staff of servants. Looking up at Shamil, the khan’s daughter asked, turning to the guest: “The hundredth?” - Let's see! – Shamil answered briefly.
“If you want,” said the khan’s daughter sharply, “to risk your life for me, then know that this night you must hide wherever you know; During the day I will look for you.
At dusk, Shamil left the palace and, reaching the outskirts of the city, lit an eagle feather. An eagle appeared.
– Hide me as best you can! - said Shamil. - And the eagle, picking him up with his claws, lifted him into the sky and carried him far into the dark clouds, where he had a nest; He put Shamil there and sat on him himself.
At dawn, the khan's daughter began to look around the entire surface of the earth. Shamil was nowhere to be found on earth. Then she aimed her trumpet at the heights of heaven, searched for a long time throughout the entire airspace, and finally, somewhere far away in the clouds, she noticed a nest on which an eagle was sitting; Having looked closely, she saw several hairs from Shamil’s hat.
- Here he is! – the girl shouted joyfully.
When Shamil appeared in the evening, the khan’s daughter told him exactly where he was hiding.
This time he failed. Hoping to hide better the second time, Shamil left the palace and, in the bushes outside the city, lit the hair of a goat: in an instant a goat appeared.
- Hide me better! - said Shamil.
The goat put him on herself and carried him with the speed of the wind almost to the ends of the world. There she hid him behind a ledge in a hole, on the opening of which she herself lay down, covering it with her body.
The next morning the search began. The khan's daughter searched for Shamil for a long time, but finally, behind a rock, under a lying goat, she noticed the end of a beshmet, which Shamil had carelessly forgotten to tuck. Then what happened the first time was repeated.
“Second failure!” thought Shamil, warming the scales of a goldfish by the fire. The fish, appearing to him immediately, led him to the seashore and summoned from there a huge pike; She ordered the pike to open its mouth and, having inserted Shamil into its voluminous womb, sent it back into the depths of the sea.
The next day, the khan's daughter searched for a long time, but all in vain: Shamil was nowhere to be found - neither on earth nor in heaven. She wanted to admit defeat, but her mother advised her to point the pipe into the depths of the sea. It so happened that just at this time the voracious pike, in whose womb Shamil was hidden, opened its mouth to catch the crucian carp. No wonder he was noticed...
Shamil completely lost heart. The khan's daughter was about to order him to be hanged when he, remembering the fox hair, exclaimed:
- Most beautiful maiden! I am a stranger from a foreign country and a guest in your city, let me hide for the last time - try my luck again! - She agreed.
Shamil went out of town and lit a fox hair. Immediately she appeared.
- Come on, how will you hide me? – Shamil said impatiently.
- Don't worry, Shamil! I will hide you so that no one will find you! “Right there, in the bushes, she told him to sleep peacefully until she woke him up.” Then she began to dig an underground passage from the place where Shamil slept to the Khan’s palace, in the underground of the room in which the girl usually sat and examined. At dawn she woke up Shamil and told him to crawl behind her. They found themselves in the underground room of the khan’s daughter, in a place that was right under her feet; you could hear everything there: not only everything she talked to her mother or the servants, but also how her dress rustled.
A search began, but no matter how much the khan’s daughter searched, she could not find Shamil anywhere. Little did she know that he could hide under her feet, almost in the folds of her dress. In desperation, she threw her pipe on the floor several times, which had now betrayed her for the first time. During these useless searches, Shamil slept peacefully at the feet of the beauty, and the fox carefully guarded him, sitting next to him. When it died down, the fox woke him up again, and he went to the khan’s daughter.
“Today, however,” she said in a dissatisfied voice, “you hid so much that even the Shaitan himself could not find you!”
“In that case, can I count on you to change your anger to mercy?” – asked Shamil.
“No,” she said, “let me search one more day!” – Shamil agreed.
The same thing happened again. Shamil hid in the same place. Of course, all searches for the girl remained unsuccessful. Out of frustration, she smashed her pipe into pieces!
When Shamil appeared at the palace in the evening, the inaccessible beauty rushed to him, saying:
“You have finally defeated me: I agree to be your wife!”
The next day the wedding was celebrated. All the inhabitants of the city were unusually glad that they were freed from a difficult ordeal for them, and thus the wedding of the khan’s daughter became a universal holiday.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru