In ancient times, there lived in the Chigur district, near the village of Tichgar, a man from the Kurumba tribe. And this Kurumba, like all the people of his tribe, was an evil sorcerer and wizard. Every day he came to Tichgar, and everyone who lived in this village, the Kota people and the Toda people, hid in their houses at the sight of him. For if a black kurumba came across a man on the road, then this man was found dead the next day, and the women and girls disappeared from the village forever. With the power of his witchcraft, he killed the bravest and strongest, seduced wives and brides, and cast spells on cows and buffaloes.
The inhabitants of Tichgar could no longer tolerate the evil sorcerer in their village, and they decided to kill him. One day at dawn, all the Kota and Toda gathered outside the village and headed into the dense forest of Oknar. They waited for a long time, hiding in the thickets of bamboo, and finally they heard the steps of the kurumba on the forest path. Then they jumped out of the ambush, grabbed the kurumba and began to beat him with knives and clubs until he fell dead to the ground, and then they cut off his arms and legs and scattered them in different directions. Joyful and happy that they finally managed to get rid of the damned wizard, the cat and Tod set off on their way back.
The dead kurumba remained lying on the road and lay there until noon. But as soon as the rays of the sun touched the sorcerer’s body, in one moment all his wounds healed, and the severed legs and arms crawled along the ground, wriggling like worms, and grew to his body. Kurumba jumped up, alive and unharmed, and walked through the forest as if nothing had happened. Kota and Toda had not yet reached their village and walked halfway, when suddenly a sorcerer appeared in front of them and mockingly shouted:
- Hey you, cat!.. Hey you, toda!.. You wanted to kill me - look: I’m here again! Can you handle me, you pathetic little people? Beware, you will now pay me dearly for each of my wounds...
Fear seized the inhabitants of Tichgar when they heard these words. They stood on the road for a long time and thought: “How could such a miracle happen? How could a murdered sorcerer be resurrected?..” And then they returned home and tightly locked the doors of their homes.
But in vain they tried to hide from the sorcerer. A little time passed - no less than two weeks, no more than a month - and in the village of Tichgar people suddenly began to die one after another. In the villages of Kota and Toda, women's mouths hurt from screaming and screaming, and only sad funeral songs were heard in the village from morning until late at night. And the Kurumba sorcerer walked around contentedly: for every wound he suffered, for every blow dealt to him, the people of Kota and Toda now paid with human lives. One day, while walking through distant pastures, Kurumba wandered into a small grove where guavas grew. Having feasted on sweet fruits to his fill, he sat down to rest under a tree and then heard someone’s quiet cry. Looking around, Kurumba saw that under the tree a dead parrot was lying with its paws up, and his girlfriend was sitting on a branch and crying bitterly. It was not for nothing that the black kurumba was a wizard: he understood the language of animals and birds as well as we understand human speech. He asked the parrot's wife:
“Why are you crying so much, little bird?” And she answered him:
- What can I tell you, father? My husband, the soul of my soul, died today, and I cry because I don’t know how I’ll live in this forest alone now. Melancholy tears my heart apart, and I can’t hold back my tears. After all, no one, no one in the whole world will help my grief.
Kurumba listened to how sad the green bird was, and he suddenly felt sorry for her. He thought, “I will help her. At least for a while, I will console her.” And when he thought this, his soul left the human body and entered the body of the parrot. At that same moment, the green parrot came to life, flapped its wings and flew straight onto the branch to his wife. The parrot did not know what to do with joy: she cried, and laughed, and caressed her husband, and scolded him...
- Aren’t you ashamed? “- she said. “I can’t find a place for myself here because of grief, and you pretended to be dead - and you lie there, listening!.. All of you men are so heartless, you should only torture us, poor women!” Well, tell me, why did you need to joke with me like that?
Then she looked down and saw a black kurumba under a tree; he was lying with his arms and legs outstretched, his mouth was open, his eyes were closed...
“Look!” exclaimed the bird. “Do you see this man?” He was just talking to me and suddenly he died! Poor thing, he felt so sorry for us... It wouldn’t be good if his body was torn to pieces by wild dogs, gnawed by tigers or jackals: after all, his wife would probably look for him... We need to help her, the poor thing, let her at least admire her husband for the last time!
With these words, she fluttered from the branch and brought in her beak a large leaf of the kar tree and placed it on the chest of the kurumba: wild animals do not like and are afraid of the smell of these leaves. Then she straightened her feathers and said to her husband:
- I don’t want to live in this forest, let’s fly away from here! They flew to the large forest of Kendor, where thousands of colorful parrots were jumping and chirping merrily on the branches of banyan trees. There they built themselves a new nest.
Not far from the forest, in the village of Porgar, there lived a man from the Kota tribe named Mochal. This Mochal had a large garden, and in that garden such large, tasty pears grew that all the birds from the surrounding forests flocked there in whole flocks. Old Mochal thought for a long time about how he could get rid of the uninvited guests, and finally came up with an idea: he collected pears from all over the garden, put them in a pile and covered them with a strong net, and he himself began to wait.
That night the parrots from the Kendor forest decided to feast on pears. As soon as they began to peck at the ripe fruits, the net suddenly slammed shut and at least a thousand birds were trapped! The ku-rumba parrot was also caught with them. The caught birds fluttered in the net, screamed in different voices, complaining about their fate... Some tried to get out, but no such luck: the old gardener tightly wove his net. Only Kurumba sat quietly. After waiting until everyone had calmed down, he said:
“I’ll teach you birds how to get out of here, listen!” Tomorrow morning the owner will come here to rip our heads off. Then you will pretend to be dead: close your eyes and lie quietly. Then he will begin to take us out of here one by one and throw us on the ground. Even then, you don’t even notice, you lie there as if you really died. That's when he takes the last one out of the net, then I'll squeak, and you all take off at once! In the meantime, let's peck the pears, so time will pass until the morning...
In the morning, the old gardener went out into the garden and saw that there were a lot of birds in his net, but for some reason they were all dead. “What kind of parable? Why did they all die, I poisoned them? – he thought. “I shouldn’t eat meat soup today!” Well, okay, let me at least count them!..” And he began to throw one parrot after another out of the net, counting out loud: “One! Two! Three!..” The parrots lay motionless and waited. But when old Mochal took out the penultimate parrot and said: “Nine hundred and ninety-nine!”, someone could not stand it, squeaked and... In one moment, the entire huge flock flew into the sky, and in the gardener’s hands only the one who conceived it all was left - the Kurumba parrot. This happens often in life; It’s not for nothing that we, cats, have a proverb: “The one who heals others always has a scab on his head...”
Old Mochal became very angry, realizing that the cunning birds had deceived him. He grabbed the last parrot, shook it thoroughly and said:
- Oh, you nasty little bird! Well, just wait, I’ll definitely have you for lunch! I’ll cook you, eat you and gnaw off all the bones!
And with these words he dragged the parrot into the house. Only suddenly this parrot sneezed, quacked and said in a human voice:
- You’re in vain, master: what kind of dinner am I? I don’t even have any meat on me! Just leave me alive, it will be better for you. Listen to what I tell you...
And then the parrot began to tell the old man about himself and about his wife, and about the children, and about all the fellow villagers - what happened to them and what was going to happen in this village in the coming days. Old Mochal even opened his mouth in surprise: he had lived in the world for many years, but had never heard of birds being able to speak like humans. And here this parrot not only speaks, but also knows everything about everyone - both the past and the future! “Well, no,” thought Mochal, “I won’t give this bird even for a thousand rupees!” He carefully wrapped the parrot in his cloak, brought it home and told his family to take care of it as their greatest treasure.
Soon everyone learned that in Mochal’s house there lived a wise parrot who could predict the future for everyone. From the most distant villages people flocked to Porgar. Everyone wanted to see the wonderful bird with their own eyes. Everyone who came to old Mochal's house brought with him a pot of butter, a jar of wild honey or a full measure of rice. Less than a month had passed before the old gardener became the richest man in the village.
The month of Alani has arrived - the month when the Kota people celebrate the harvest festival. People from all seven villages gathered in Porgar for this Kota festival. For three days in a row they drank, ate, sang and danced, and on the fourth day a large crowd went to Mochal’s house to look at the talking parrot. Old Mochal took the cage out of the house, I hung it on the veranda, and people crowded in the yard and began to ask the parrot about their affairs. Mother Doni, the wife of a rich man from the village of Kurgoj, also came to the gardener’s yard: she was eager to find out if her husband would buy her a new necklace at the fair in Utakamanda. That day, Mother Doni drank a lot of the intoxicating potion from poppy heads and now stood in front of the parrot in a form in which cat women never appear in public - her cloak was out of place, her skirt was hiked up, her legs were bare, her belly was out...
So the parrot looked at her, looked, tilted his head to the side ;; suddenly says:
- Who are you? An honest wife or a lewd woman? You have no conscience, at least you would be ashamed of people!..
There was such laughter in the yard that the crows flew off the roof of the house. And Mother Doni covered her face with her hands and quickly left the yard... What was it like for her, a respected woman in the village, to hear such a thing from some stupid bird, and even in front of all the honest people! She did not sleep for a long time that night and finally decided: one of the two should not live in this world - either she or the damned parrot. In the morning she told her husband:
- Since yesterday I have been sad in my heart. If you don't help me, I will wither and die.
And her husband, Elder Parimain, loved his wife more than life itself. He became very alarmed and asked:
- What is it? Tell me, dear wife, what happened?
Here Mother Doni says:
– Yesterday I was in the house of the gardener Mochal and saw a talking parrot there. If you love me hubby, get me that bird! I must see her in my house, otherwise I won’t live...
“I’ll buy you a parrot, whatever the cost,” said Parimain. That same day he came to the gardener Mochal and began to ask him to sell the talking bird. The gardener did not agree for a long time, but in the end, when the elder promised him five milking buffaloes with calves, he gave in. Satisfied, Parimain went home, promising to drive the buffaloes early in the morning. The parrot heard the whole conversation and, when the elder left, said to the old gardener:
“You did a bad thing, master: now I’m in trouble... This man was sent to you by his wife, and she’s taking revenge on me for making her laugh in front of all the people.”
As soon as I get there, she will deal with me immediately. Well, what can I say now, it’s done, it’s done... Just when you hand me over tomorrow, quietly pluck out one feather and hide it in your coat pocket. Then, if this witch tries to kill me there, I will immediately end up in your bosom.
Mochal did just that. The next morning, when Parimipe brought him the buffaloes, he stealthily snatched a small feather from the parrot's tail and put it in his pocket. And the elder took the parrot and went back to the village of Kurgoj. On the way, the parrot told him so many things that when Parimain got home, he announced to his wife:
“I bought you a parrot, as you asked, but look: take care of it like your child!” You won’t find another bird like this in the whole world, it’s not for nothing that I gave five buffaloes for it.
Mother Doni bowed low to her husband and said:
- My husband and master! I will do everything as you order.
She put the parrot in a large cage and, while her husband was at home, she caressed him, looked after him, fed him selected grain, and gave him clean water. But as soon as Elder Parimain left the next day for distant pastures, she grabbed a long bone needle, which we use to embroider cloaks, jumped up to the cage and shouted with an evil laugh:
“You, damned bird, are your mother’s husband, the son of a shaven-headed father!” That's when I caught you!.. Now you will learn how to insult honest women.
With a sharp needle she began to stab the parrot in the chest, back, and head, piercing its wings and beak. Finally, having had enough of revenge, she plunged the needle straight into the bird's heart. The parrot cried out pitifully and died immediately. And - strange thing! - Before the corpse of the parrot had time to cool down, the headman’s house was filled with an unbearable stench, as if this bird had died many days ago. When Parimain returned home, Mother Doni said to him:
“Our parrot suddenly died for no reason at all.” Apparently he was sick with something: you can feel the stench in the house...
Parimain marveled at this, sighed about the missing buffaloes and... ordered the parrot to be thrown away.
And at this very time, in the village of Porgar, the gardener Mochal heard a parrot feather speaking in a human voice in his bosom. And this feather said to him these words:
- Get up before dawn and go to distant pastures, to the village of Tichgar. There you will see a grove, in the grove there is a tree, and under the tree a man lies dead. Take me with you and rub me gently on the dead man's forehead. I will be fine, you will be fine, everyone will be fine!
Old Mochal was surprised by these words, but then he thought about it and decided to go to Tichgar in the morning, and by the time he went to bed, I fell fast asleep.
And that same night in the village of Tichgar, an old man named grandfather Kalyach saw a strange dream. A stranger appeared to him in a dream and said:
- Remember kurumba the sorcerer, don’t forget about kurumba the sorcerer, beware of kurumba the sorcerer! His body is in a grove in distant pastures, and his soul is in a parrot feather, and the feather is in the pocket of the cloak of the gardener Mochal from the village of Porgar. Tomorrow early in the morning Mochal will come to the grove and rub a feather on the forehead of the dead man. Then the sorcerer will stand up alive and unharmed and begin to pester you worse than before. Quickly run to Mochal, bring him here, bring a dozen bundles of firewood to the village meadow, build a fire and burn the feather! Hurry up, otherwise it will be too late!
Old Kalyach woke up in the middle of the night, woke up everyone at home and told them about his dream. His family listened to him and ran around the village to wake up people. Soon everyone in the village of Tichgar was on their feet. The strongest and fastest young men were sent by the elders to the village of Porgar, to the old gardener. It was still completely dark when people from Tichgar knocked on Mochal’s door. The gardener listened to their story and only shook his head: so that’s who lived in his house!.. He took his cloak and went with the people from Tichgar to their village.
And there everything was already ready: the residents of Tichgar - men and women, Kota and Toda - gathered outside the village in a large meadow, piled firewood in the middle of the meadow - the way they pile it for a funeral pyre, called the badaga musicians that we usually play at funerals. Mochal carefully took out a feather from his cloak pocket and put it in the very middle of the fire. The elders of Tichgar lit a fire, and the fire began to flare up little by little. And as soon as the flames reached the middle of the fire, a heart-rending cry was heard from there: “Oh, I’m burning!.. My mother!.. My dear fathers!.. I’m dying!..” Then the fire crackled - as if human bones were burning in the fire, then the smell of burnt meat wafted over everyone, and then everything died down... The residents of Tichgar scattered the ashes from the fire across the meadow and silently, without saying a word, they went to distant pastures. There, in a small grove, they found the dead body of the sorcerer Kurumba under a tree. They threw the kurumba's corpse into a deep ravine and returned home.
Since then, the Kota people in the village of Tichgar knew neither worries nor worries - they ate, drank and lived happily.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru