They say that swans used to be dumb birds, and all their paws were black. Now everyone knows that they shout “ky-ky, ky-ky,” which is why they got the name “kykyk,” and many have red paws.
Why did swans become like this?
In a camp on the shore of the bay, there lived a little girl. She loved to play on the flat sand spit: from morning to evening she drew different patterns with a twig and built small houses out of sand.
She also spent a long time admiring the beautiful birds that, like silent white clouds, floated over her camp. The girl lay down on the warm sand and watched the flocks until they disappeared into the distance.
The girl's parents loved their daughter very much. But one summer my mother died. Father and daughter grieved greatly. A month later, the father left for a distant camp to find a new mother for his little daughter.
The father brought a beautiful woman with black sable eyebrows and eyelashes, similar to the tassels of the ears of a winter squirrel, with thick braids, like the tail of a black-brown fox.
The stepmother looked down at the girl and said nothing.
The next day the father went hunting. The girl got up at sunrise and went to the shore of the bay to play with the waves. She played for a long time, and when the sun rose high above the forest, she ran home to have breakfast. I entered the house and saw that my stepmother was still sleeping. The girl sighed quietly, returned to the shore and began to play again.
She built a house from sea sand near the water. The oncoming wave washed it away. But when the wave receded, the girl managed to build a new house. So she did not notice how midday came. I caught myself when the sun began to heat my head and ran home.
The stepmother was still sleeping. Finally, she got up, brought a white soft yukola from the barn and began to eat. She didn't even notice the girl standing next to her.
The stepmother chewed the last piece of yukola, licked her greasy fingers and, without looking at the girl, threw her a tail of dried chum salmon. The girl ate this tail. And she wanted to eat even more. The stepmother yawned, turned away, and went back to bed.
So hard days came for the little girl.
My father hunted a lot of animals and game. He came home only to bring back prey, and again went into the taiga for a long time. The stepmother ate all the delicious pieces herself.
One day the father asked his wife:
— My wife, my daughter has lost a lot of weight. Maybe she's sick?
The woman replied:
- No, I’m healthy. She is already big, but she doesn’t do anything around the house, doesn’t help me. He just knows how to run all day long! Slacker! No matter how you feed her, she will be thin - she runs so much!
One autumn evening, when birds were flying away in large flocks towards midday, my father returned from hunting and lay down to rest. Mother brought fatty yukola and began cutting it into thin slices. The girl hasn't eaten since morning. She went to the table and began asking her stepmother for something to eat. The stepmother was silent, as if she didn’t even see.
- Give me something to eat! - asked the little girl.
- Move away from the table! - was the answer.
- Give me something to eat! - asked the little girl.
- Leave me alone! - was the answer.
The girl's tummy was completely tight. Hunger sucked at her so much that she stretched out her hand for a pink piece. When her hand touched the yukola, the stepmother hit it with a sharp knife. The tips of my fingers remained on the table. The girl ran away to a warm sandy hillock and began to cry loudly. Blood trickled from his fingers. The girl sobbed:
- Whoa, whoa, whoa!
At this time, swans were flying over the bay. They heard the voice of a crying girl and made a circle. Then they sat down next to her, surrounded her and began to look at her. When they noticed that blood was flowing from her fingers, they felt very sorry for the poor girl. The birds' pity was so great that tears appeared in their eyes. The swans cried silently. Tears fell like dewdrops onto the sand. And where the swans sat, the sand became wet from tears. The large white birds cried more and more loudly, and suddenly a voice broke through:
- Keek-ky, ky-ky, ky-ky!
Hearing their voices, the girl’s father ran out of the house, saw that his daughter was surrounded by swans, and rushed for a bow and arrow: he wanted to kill the big birds.
The swans flapped their wings. At that same moment, wings grew from the girl’s shoulders - she turned into a slender swan with red legs.
When the hunter ran out of the house, a flock of swans had already risen into the sky. A young bird was flying in the very middle of the flock. All the swans shouted:
- Keek-ky, ky-ky, ky-ky!
Only the young bird was silent.
The hunter grabbed his head and shouted after the flying flock:
- Daughter! Come back! You will live well!
The only answer was:
- Keek-ky, ky-ky, ky-ky!
The father stood at the house for a long time and, hunched over, sadly looked after the flying flock. Here are the swans hanging like beads over the sea. Soon they melted into the azure distance.
Every spring swans flew over the camp near the bay. And they cried loudly: “Ky-ky, ky-ky, ky-ky!” Only one bird was silent. And every time the swans, flying over the camp, saw far below the figure of a man standing alone on a hillock.
A lot of time has passed since then. And in the place where a lonely man once stood, a thick larch grew. Neither fogs nor winds can knock her down. And she stands, leaning towards midday, raising her branches-arms to the sky. And swans with red paws, flying from north to south or from south to north, will definitely turn towards this larch and cry loudly:
- Keek-ky, ky-ky, ky-ky!
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru