Mergen once lived with his younger brother Leterken.
One day the elder brother went hunting. Leterken went outside to play, he saw seven swans flying from the lower reaches of the Amur. Then Lathercan shouted:
- Seven swans, stop, come and visit me! Seven swans sat on a hanger near Latherkan's house and turned into seven pudina.
They hung their swan clothes on the hangers and entered Latherkan's house.
The girls dressed, washed, combed the boy's hair, and he became very handsome. Then they said:
- Leterken, if your brother asks who combed your hair, washed you, dressed you, tell him that you did everything yourself. If you don’t tell us that we were there, we will come to you again.
Then they left the house, put on their clothes and flew up the Amur.
In the evening the elder brother came. He looked at Latherken and was surprised: Latherken had become handsome.
- Leterken, who combed your hair, who gave you new clothes?
- I did everything to myself.
The elder brother began to ask Latherkan again:
- Tell the truth, you didn’t do it? Then Lathercan said:
“Brother, after you left, when I went outside to play, I saw seven swans flying from the lower reaches of the Amur. I shouted and invited them to visit. They took off their swan clothes and turned into seven pu-din. They did all this for me.
The elder brother said:
“When the puddin arrive again, stick your finger into the hole in the jewelry on the hem of your younger sister’s robe and hold it back.”
After some time, Mergen went hunting again. Latherken was left at home alone. When he went outside, he again saw seven swans flying from the lower reaches of the Amur.
Lathercan shouted:
- Swan sisters, come to me! My dress is completely torn, there is a lot of dirt in the house. -
Six swans sat down as swans, and one swan turned into a puddin. She entered the house and said:
- Ai, ai, Leterken, when did you manage to accumulate so much dirt!
She began to comb his head, and Latherkan stuck his finger into the hole of the decoration on the hem of her robe.
Meanwhile, the elder brother quietly walked over, took the swan's puddin robe and hid it. The other six puddin swans saw Mergen and flew away. And the seventh puddin Mergen took as his wife. For Lathercan, she became an older sister.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru