One day the raven Kutkh saw a sleeping crab on the sea sand. I went up to him and began to wake him up:
- Hey, crab, wake up! Take me for a ride!
The crab answers:
- Don't disturb me from sleeping! But Kutkh does not leave:
- Enough sleep! Get up! The crab raised its head, straightened its claws and said:
- Okay, sit down! I'll give you a ride!
Kutkh climbed onto the crab and rode on it along the bottom of the sea. And as the crab rushed, Kutkh almost fell off him and shouted:
- Stop, otherwise I’ll fall! The crab stopped, Kutkh got off him and walked along the seabed. And all around, huge algae wriggle and a great variety of sea fish spin.
Kutkh walked and walked and approached the village of the seal people. Seals on short legs-flippers ran up to him and asked:
- Who are you? Where are you coming from?
- I am Kutkh, who can live on earth, in the air and under water! - Kutkh answers. - Take me to that big house over there!
The cubs took him to the elder's house. The house is large, bright, the walls are made of thin ice. A lamp is suspended in the middle, with bunks on each side. In the corner, on an ice chair, sits a mustachioed owner - the front flippers look like short arms, the back flippers look like short legs.
He asks:
- Why did you come, Kutihei?
“To see how your seal people live,” Kutkh answers.
“We used to live better,” says the elder. - Now the upper inhabitants have caught all the fish with nets and seines. We have nothing to eat. Yes, and we are hunted - we barely have time to grow up.
The Kutha seal women treated them to the best food - fresh fish, various crustaceans and seaweed.
“I ate well,” says Kutkh. “And I’ll tell people about your seal troubles.” Let them save the fish for you too.
The seal women made a bed of seaweed for Kuthu, and he fell asleep... And in the morning he woke up in the village of the walrus people.
Now in front of Kutkh sat in an ice chair a huge old walrus with long white tusks. The walrus looked at Kutkh with kind eyes.
The walrus's dwelling was as light as the seal's, but much larger. On the sides of the bunks lay fanged walruses - relatives of the old walrus.
“Dear Kutihei,” said the walrus, “I already know why you came to our underwater kingdom.” We don't really need fish. On the seabed live small crustaceans and mollusks that we eat. But the walrus people feel bad from the fiery arrows that the hunters shower us with. We have been feeding people meat and fat for a long time. I would like them to get us little by little, as much as we need for food and clothing.
Kutkh said:
- I’ll tell people about your great concern...
The walruses fed Kutkh, put him to bed, and the next morning Kutkh found himself in the village of the whale people.
In a huge house made of transparent ice, an elder lay on a stone slab - a blue whale. On the sides, other whales were resting on slab bunks. The old whale said:
- Dear Kutihei, I know why you are traveling in our underwater kingdom. And I will tell you how we lived and how we live now. In ancient times there were a great number of us. We lived in all seas and oceans. People hunted us down with hand harpoons and spears for fat and meat. Dwellings were built from whale bones and various household items were made. The hunters caught so many whales that our tribe did not decrease. But greed overwhelmed people, and they violated the agreement with the animal world. Now there are very few blue whales left. If people do not understand our and their misfortune, then the seas and oceans will be left without fish and animals. Tell this to the land dwellers.
“I will certainly convey your request to the hunters and fishermen,” Kutkh promised.
The whale women treated Kutkh to sea shellfish, put him in a bed of seaweed, and he fell into a deep sleep.
When Kutkh woke up, he found himself on a small island in the middle of the endless sea. He looked around - the earth was nowhere to be seen. “If I fly across the sky,” thought Kutkh, “then my wings will soon get tired, and I will not reach the shore.”
Kutkh approached the water and shouted:
- Hey, inhabitants of the sea - seals, bearded seals, walruses, whales! Help me get from the island to land!
Then the inhabitants of the sea began to swim up to the island from all sides and lined up on the surface of the sea. Closer to the shore - seals, behind them - bearded seals, behind sealed seals - walruses, behind walruses - whales, behind whales - again walruses, bearded seals, seals. A large living bridge was built up to the horizon, and through this bridge Kutkh crossed to the ground.
- Thank you! - Kutkh shouted. - I will never forget your kindness!
This is how Kutha's sea voyage ended.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru