Since ancient times, the Ede people built their villages among dense forests and high mountains. And these villages were flourishing and abundant. In one of these villages lived a powerful leader with his wife. In their house there were countless bronze gongs and jugs of wine, like shells on a river bank. And there were countless horses and elephants in the leader’s fat herds. However, the couple did not know the joy of their wealth, because they did not have the most important thing in their house - children. For many years they offered prayers to the gods, and finally - oh, happiness! – the leader’s wife gave birth to a girl. The parents loved their daughter more than anything in the world and gave her a beautiful name - Hebia.
Hebia grew up and turned into a rare beauty. It was impossible to find a more beautiful girl than her on the banks of large rivers and small streams, at the foot of high mountains and on their peaks, among valleys and dense forests. In addition, she was diligent in her work and hardworking. Whatever task is entrusted to her, she does it surprisingly deftly and successfully. He began to take care of the chickens and pigs - they began to produce double offspring. She began to embroider cloaks and loincloths - the patterns spread out in all the colors of the rainbow, and the Birds she embroidered barely flapped their wings. Wherever she goes, everything lights up with light, as if lightning is blazing. She used to walk past gray-haired elders - they looked younger before our eyes, shaking their heads in admiration.
The leader and his wife dreamed of finding a worthy groom for the beautiful Hebia, they looked closely at all the guys in their village and in the surrounding area, but no one was to their daughter’s liking. She did not want to marry the sons of rich and powerful leaders, she did not want to marry brave elephant and tiger hunters, or hardworking peasants. It happened that Hebia’s father and mother would point out some handsome young man and begin to list his merits, but she would just shake her head - they say, I don’t want to listen to you. What can you do here?! As the years passed, the elderly leader and his wife were no longer seriously worried about who would become their successor in the house, who would take the burden of housework off their shoulders.
And then one day, when the entire family of the leader was sitting on the open platform and enjoying the evening cool, Hebia decisively said:
“I want my husband to be the one who can hit a small bird in the eye with an arrow from a bow, the one who gets up in the morning before the forest roosters and goes to the field.”
The parents were happy that their beloved daughter had finally expressed her desire, but at the same time they wondered: is it easy to find such a guy?
The words of the beautiful Hebia quickly spread around all the villages near and far and soon reached the ears of I Loire. This young man was unremarkable, and few people knew him except his neighbors. But he had long heard about the beautiful Hebia, and thoughts about her day and night did not leave his head. Whether he wanders in the forest, or sits on the bank of a stream, he thinks about her; whether he goes on business to eastern villages or to western ones, he thinks about her. So I decided to try my luck.
One day, taking with him a cutting knife and a bow and arrows, I Loire went into the forest. On the sandy bank of a wide stream he suddenly saw a great many bird tracks. Wasting no time, he felled the tree and built five snares. After which he calmly returned home.
Every day, early in the morning, And the Loire visited his snares, but neither after three days, nor after five, not a single bird got there. Only seven days later he found a beautiful dead bird with blue feathers in one of the snares. He stuck an arrow in the bird's eye and ran as fast as he could to the village where Hebia lived. In front of the house lay a wicker lid in the sun on which rice was drying. And Loir threw the bird with an arrow in the eye onto this lid and ran away.
Hearing the sound of someone’s hurried steps, Hebia looked out the window, saw a bird and joyfully hurried to her parents:
“It turns out there is a sharp shooter in the villages of Ede, but I don’t know who he is.” Find him!
The parents rejoiced, and the leader shouted:
- Hey, I Suar! Hey E Var! Hurry here, my faithful servants! Take your swords, take your spears, there is something important for you. Immediately call all the young men from the eastern and western villages. Let the one of them who managed to hit the bird in the eye respond! Let the one of them respond who gets up in the morning before the forest roosters and goes to the field! We want to call this young man our son-in-law. We want to give him our beautiful daughter with bronze bracelets on her wrists and silver rings on her fingers as his wife.
Soon a crowd of suitors gathered in front of the leader's house. He came out to them and asked:
-Which of you is the most accurate shooter? Who has arrows like this one in their quiver?
Each of the young men, in turn, approached the leader and showed him arrows from his quiver for comparison. But none of them looked like an arrow taken from the eye of a dead bird. The unlucky suitors walked away in embarrassment, not daring to raise their eyes to the leader. And he became sadder and more anxious. A shadow of sadness fell on the face of the beautiful Hebia.
For three days they waited in the leader's house for a sharp shooter to show up. For three days all the doors were wide open. The owner was tired, the hostess was tired. The faithful servants I Suar and I Var did not close their eyes for three nights, everyone was thinking about what to do. Finally they said:
- Oh leader! You are rich, you are famous. No one dares disobey your will. But it may happen that the most accurate shooter for some reason could not come to your call. Let us tell our fortunes, and we will find out the name of this young man.
The leader graciously nodded his head, and the faithful servants began to tell fortunes. But how could they know all the tricks of this matter?! Faithful servants were not suitable for soothsayers. In addition, their eyes were drooping after three sleepless nights. And Suar and Var did not notice that they fell asleep. Meanwhile, the yard dogs started a quarrel - they chased each other with loud barking and squealing, trying to bite harder.
The fortune tellers woke up from the noise, stared in shock at the dogs, and that’s when it dawned on them!
- Oh leader! - they shouted. “While we were sleeping, the gods appeared to us in a dream and said: another young man named I Luar has not come here.” O chief, call this young man!
The leader sent faithful servants for I Loire, they came to him and said:
“And Loire, we didn’t come to you for a trivial matter.” They came to call to the leader himself. You are ordered to take a quiver of arrows with you.
Hospitable Yi Loir served refreshments to the guests and invited them to eat and relax. But both Suar and I Var refused, they only repeated that they must immediately appear at the leader’s house and not forget the quiver of arrows. The young man got ready and followed the faithful servants.
The leader personally went out to meet I Loire and asked for an arrow for comparison. The young man did not deny it, he said without boasting, but with dignity:
“Yes, it was I who hit the little bird in the eye.” And as proof, he handed the leader his quiver, full of the same arrows that he had in his hands.
The leader and his wife rejoiced:
- Here he is, a worthy groom for our incomparable Hebia!
And immediately they ordered the guests to be called to a great wedding feast. Many people appeared - the Ede from nearby villages, the big-eared Bihi from afar, the brave Mnong, and the Viet from distant valleys.
So the resourceful I Luar settled in the leader’s house. He completely stopped going hunting, but every morning he got up with the forest roosters and went to the mountain field, where he worked tirelessly. The sun has not yet peeked out from behind the distant mountain, all the villagers are still lying in bed, and Yi Loire is already waving his hoe. In the midday heat, he sits in the shade and begins to weave baskets or various utensils.
One day the leader decided to throw a feast for his fellow villagers. He ordered to roast a hog and tie seven jugs of wine to the pillars of the house. And the mother-in-law sent And Loire to the stream to wash the offal for a brew.
I Loir sat down on a flat rock near the water and was just about to get down to business when he suddenly heard someone’s voices from the dense thickets. He listened: it turned out that these unlucky suitors had gathered in a secluded place to jointly discuss a plan for revenge on the lucky man and Loire. Envy completely clouded their minds, and they planned to destroy the young man. And Loire was frightened and became quiet, so perhaps he would have sat there until the evening. But then, unfortunately, voracious crows swooped in and wanted to feast on the offal. And Loire could not stand it, jumped to his feet and started screaming at the top of his lungs:
- Oh, you worthless creatures! Shoo out of here, shoo! I'll shoot you all, I'll shoot you all! Look what you're up to! However, I'm not to be trifled with. I’ll shoot you and it’ll be the end of you all!
The crows cawed in fear and flapped their wings. The unlucky suitors decided that I Loire had staged a raid on them. Oh, they were chickens! Oh, and they asked for a striker! And to make it easier to escape, they threw away all their spears and swords.
And Luar, don’t be a fool, picked up the swords and spears and returned to the leader’s house. He responded to surprised questions like this:
“I went to the stream to wash the offal for a brew, and I saw that the enemies had set up an ambush and were preparing to attack our village. Well, I didn’t hesitate, I attacked them first. They could not resist my pressure, they ran away and threw away their weapons. So I picked it up.
The father-in-law and mother-in-law are amazed - well, the daredevil got their daughter’s husband! Hero! The leader immediately sent heralds to announce to all the inhabitants of the village about the feat of I Loire, and ordered another hog to be roasted and five more jugs of wine tied to the posts.
The next morning after the feast, at the behest of the leader, a council of elders met, and the wise elders decided that all men, armed with shields, swords and spears, should occupy all the approaches to the village, for the enemies might change their minds and attack again. By general agreement, And Loire was appointed governor. But he really didn’t want to get involved in this matter, and he pretended to be sick, saying he was shaking with a fever. There is nothing to do, the men left without him.
Several days passed, and the enemies still did not appear. And Loire got tired of pretending to be sick, and one morning he said to his father-in-law:
- Dear, in my opinion, there is no reason for us to wait for our enemies in ambush. They probably found out about this and can take a detour. It's better for me to attack them alone. You'll see, and this time I'll deal with them.
The leader listened favorably to his brave son-in-law and nodded his head in agreement.
The Loire set off light on a long journey, choosing the most remote paths, the most deserted places. He climbed into such a wilderness where no one had ever gone before. And when he got tired, he climbed the tallest tree and hid in the dense foliage. He sits waiting, but he doesn’t know what.
However, the lucky one was lucky this time too. While he was resting on the tree, suddenly a lot of armed men appeared, and they settled down to have a snack under the very tree where I Loire was hiding. They put their shields, swords and spears in huge piles, and they began to eat. While eating, they started talking, and And Loire learned that these warriors were really planning to attack his village. They discussed their plans for a long time, and at the end the leader said with a threat in his voice:
“If we capture Yi Loire alive, we’ll cut off his nose and ears and force him to spend his whole life in slavery.”
From these words fear seized I Loire. He trembled so much that the whole tree shook under him. And the shield and sword and the Loire fell down - one was crushed in the chest, the other on the top of the head.
The warriors jumped up and attacked each other with reproaches. Someone shouts:
“I know, it was all set up by Yi Sut, who was not killed by the tiger!”
Another responds:
- And Sut had nothing to do with it! Don’t make false accusations! The third one incites:
- Hit him! Hit! Take revenge on him!
And then such a brawl began, such a massacre! Many died in this battle. Finally, the fighters calmed down and looked at their handiwork in horror, but it was too late. They picked up the wounded and moved back home, but left the piles of weapons under the tree.
As soon as they moved further away, Loire jumped out of the tree, picked up shields, swords and spears and dragged them home. Entering the village, he exclaimed:
- O people, listen to me! I unraveled the insidious plans of the enemies. They set out to defeat us with an innumerable army. But I chose a convenient moment when they settled down and did not expect an attack. Oh, I gave them a hard time! I fought like a tiger! He took the lives of many, the rest went on the run. If you don't believe me, come on, I'll show you the place of the battle.
Everyone wanted to look at this place, and I Luar led his fellow villagers to where the would-be warriors had fought. They came and saw: the grass was crushed, the bushes were broken, pools of blood were turning red, the dead were lying around. They clicked their tongues in admiration, shook their heads, and looked at the brave man and Loire with delight. And immediately a song was composed in honor of the great warrior.
The leader ordered five bulls to be roasted and five huge jugs of wine tied to poles - let the people honor his son-in-law, an incomparable warrior. Gongs and drums struck loudly, and the fun continued throughout the night.
Several days passed, and the leader called the people of the village.
- Fellow villagers! “- he said. “Our village has stood on these lands for a thousand years, and we have never started bloody fights with our neighbors.” We have always been a peace-loving people. However, evil enemies intended to turn our homes into ashes, and make us their slaves, so that we would graze their buffaloes and pigs. So let's take revenge on our enemies!
People began to arm themselves and, after a farewell feast, set off on a hike. Alone And Loire did not feast, was not eager to fight, and could not find a place for himself due to gloomy thoughts. But there was nothing to do, he had to get ready for a hike. And I thought to myself: “I need to sit on the tallest elephant, then the enemies won’t even dare to come close to me.”
And he says to his father-in-law:
- Dear! We have a great battle ahead of us. In it we will capture a lot of goods and weapons. How will we take all this away? So be it, I will not take any weapons with me, but will simply sit astride an elephant. I will return with rich spoils!
“I will give you, brave warrior, the strongest, tallest elephant from my herd,” the leader agreed. “Hey, servants!” Carry the saddle and lead the elephant, whose tusks match the columns of the community house!
A hundred warriors walked ahead, a thousand behind. A huge elephant towered above everyone, and I Luar sat on it. Spears waved over the army, like reeds over a river, and the clanking of swords echoed all around.
And then the battle broke out! Army went against army, horde against horde! Brave warriors rushed into the thick of the battle. Only Y Luar sat and remained sitting on the back of his elephant. The poor fellow was trembling with fear. The sensitive elephant sensed the rider's confusion, trembled, began to rush, and rushed, without discerning the path, towards the enemy village. A commotion arose in the enemy camp, people decided that this was a mad elephant and do not expect mercy from it. They threw down their weapons, left their homes unattended and ran to escape into the dark forest.
So I Loire won another victory. He said to the soldiers:
“If it weren’t for this elephant, we would hardly have been able to win.” Now load the prey onto the elephant. Whatever doesn’t fit, carry it on your shoulders.
Upon returning to their native land, the valiant warriors were met by the leader, joyful and happy. He ordered seven buffaloes to be roasted and seven jugs of wine tied to posts.
The people feasted, sang songs of praise in honor of the incomparable warrior And Loire, the leader did not hide his pride in such a son-in-law - he took it with his mind, and valor, and strength!
That year, a most terrible rhinoceros appeared in the surrounding forests, with a horn no smaller than a banana palm. He scoured the forests and mountains, sniffing out little humans. Fear took hold of people, they locked themselves in their houses, were afraid to go out into the forest or into the field. The leader of his fellow villagers called for the gathering, and called his son-in-law and Loire.
“People of the village,” he said, “you left the fields desolate, you forgot hunting.” The threat of starvation hangs over us. The culprit is the most terrible rhinoceros, with a horn no smaller than a banana palm. We must drive him out of our lands or kill him. Otherwise, there will be no life for all of us. What do you say, people of the village? What do you say, And Loire, bravest of the brave?
The people of the village shouted in one voice that they were ready to immediately fight the most terrible beast, and the hand of each of the men reached for a weapon: those who had a cutting knife grabbed a knife, those who had a spear took a spear, those who had nothing acquired a heavy club. And the armed army moved, undaunted, like a pack of tigers, like a herd of elephants.
Halfway there, I Loir stopped and said to his comrades:
- Continue on your way. I have my own path. I will fight one on one with the most terrible rhinoceros. You will go to the mountains, and I will go along that stream. I'll ambush the beast and see who can defeat who!
In fact, Yi Loire intended to slowly reach the distant swamps and bury himself among the swamps, where, as is known, rhinoceroses do not like to look.
And Loire sneaks through the thicket of the forest, peering into every tree, into every bush to see if a formidable beast is lurking there. From fear his eyes became larger than his legs. Suddenly he hears a roar coming from afar. Under someone's heavy steps, bushes crack and trees fall. And Loir realized that it was a rhinoceros running. The bravest of the brave spotted a huge tree and instantly climbed to the very top. He sits and waits for what will happen next.
The rhinoceros rushed up and with its huge horn gored the very tree on which I Loire was sitting. The poor guy's arms and shoulders cramped from fear, he couldn't stay on the tree and plopped down right on the rhinoceros's back. He grabbed the horn with one hand, and the scruff of the neck with the other. The fierce beast went mad with rage and, without discerning its path, ran straight into the swampy swamps. And Loire screams, the rhinoceros rushes, everything around is shaken by loud stomping.
The villagers heard this noise and ran to the swamp, but it was too late - the fierce beast was sucked into the swamp, only its back was sticking out, and its head, along with its horn, which was no smaller than a banana palm, went deep into the swamp. I Luar stands on the back of a drowned rhinoceros, proudly looking around.
- O people of the village! - he exclaimed. - Do not throw spears and arrows at the defeated beast. From now on he is no longer a threat to us. It was I, the brave warrior And Loire, who defeated him in a fair fight. Let's now pull the carcass out of the swamp, cut it up and take the meat to the village.
The warriors and the Loire responded with joyful cries; the mountain echo picked up their cries and carried them far around.
Then the hunters butchered the giant carcass, gave half of the meat to the winner, and half distributed to all fellow villagers.
In honor of the new victory of his son-in-law, the valiant I Loire, the leader threw a feast - he ordered seven buffaloes to be roasted and seven jugs of wine to be brought out.
The years passed, and life in the village went on as usual. Nothing further darkened the peace of Loire and his family. From morning to night he cultivated his field, grew corn and rice, and made sure that his wife and children had enough of everything. The house and the Loire became a full cup. They would all live and be happy, but here’s the problem: one day the copper pot of I Loire, from which he most loved to eat rice, disappeared.
And Loir thought about it and guessed that his wife, without his knowledge, had given this bowler hat to one of her girlfriends - she too often looked with envy at the beautiful bowler hat and clicked her tongue. So the wife probably decided to please her friend. That same evening at dinner I Luard said to his wife:
“There have never been quarrels or disagreements in our house.” I work tirelessly in the field, trying to keep everyone happy and well-fed. But you don't seem to appreciate such a good husband. Confess, why did you give my favorite bowler hat to my friend?
- How do you know this? – Hebia was amazed. And Loire pouted his lips, turned his back to his wife, and then looked sternly and said:
- I got wind of it!
- How did you get wind of it?
- And so! I sniffed and noticed that the smell of a copper pot was coming from your hands. Don't you feel it yourself?
The wife sniffed her hands and just shrugged.
“You see,” said I Loir, “I have such an instinct - I can sniff out anything you want.”
But Hebia was not one to be fooled easily. She looked slyly at her husband and said:
“Okay, hubby, now I’ll test your abilities.” I’ll hide my bronze bracelet, and you try to sniff out where I hid it.
Hebia took the bronze bracelet and hid it on the roof, and I Luar spied on her. He started rummaging around the whole house, sticking his nose into every crevice. Finally he raised his head up and said:
- I smell, I smell your bracelet! He's on the roof! He climbed onto the roof and soon came down with a bracelet in his hands.
Only a few days passed, and rumors of I Loire’s extraordinary abilities spread throughout all the surrounding villages. That year, unfortunately, a severe drought broke out. Trees and grass withered, buffaloes and bulls died of thirst, even people did not have enough water to drink or cook rice.
And so the people of one of the villages gathered and decided to turn to the I Loire with a request to see, to sniff out why Heaven had deprived people of rain. They came to I Loire with rich gifts, bringing many horses and elephants. And Loire wanted to refuse, but realized that this could not be done, and I had to respect the neighbors’ request.
“Now you’d better go back,” he told them, “and I’ll get down to business without delay.” As soon as I find out anything about the rain, I’ll let you know right away.
The neighbors left, and I Loir went to wander around the neighborhood. Soon he found himself near a dry swamp, in the middle of which there was a single green bush. A frog was sitting under this bush. But frogs, as everyone knows, are the best predictors of rain. And Luar grabbed her and said:
“Listen, frog, make sure it rains soon.” If you don’t, I’ll kill you!
- Don't kill me, good man! Is it within my frog powers to make the Heavens burst into rain?! I myself am sitting here, languishing with thirst and hunger. I feel that my death is near.
- Okay, frog, okay, I won’t kill you. At least tell me if we will all get relief soon. Who, if not you, will know when the rain will fall.
The frog croaked joyfully in response and said:
- Well, if we are talking about such trifles, I will help you. Return, good man, to your village, wait and listen. As soon as I croak seven times in a row, it means that in three days it will rain.
And Loir released the frog and with a light heart went to the neighboring village. They greeted him with a rich meal and showed him all sorts of honors. Sitting at the meal, And Loire said:
“It’s only because your village committed a crime before the gods, and that’s why they deprived you of life-giving moisture.” But don’t worry, I undertake to settle everything, I will come to an agreement with the heavenly powers, and they will forgive you.
While he was saying this, suddenly a frog croaked in the distance. And Loire began to count. The frog croaked seven times, then he left the feast and hurried to the same dry swamp where the frog was waiting for him. She confirmed that it would rain in exactly three days. And Loire returned to the village and announced to the people:
– I fulfilled my promise: I came to an agreement with the heavenly powers. Wait, it will rain in three days!
People rushed to prepare dishes for the rainwater - some jugs, some buckets. A And Loir again visited the swamp, the frog told him that the rain would start on the third day at noon. He ran back to the village and announced:
- I checked! I got wind of it! It will rain in three days at noon. That's what the gods told me.
And indeed, at noon on the third day, a strong wind rose, drove black clouds, thunder struck, and streams of rain poured onto the ground. The people rejoiced, had fun, and glorified the Loire, their intercessor before the gods.
The fame of the great seer And the Loire, who is able to sniff out everything, spread throughout all lands and finally reached the valleys where the Vietos live.
It so happened that just at this time a misfortune happened in the palace of the Viet sovereign: the princess, the sovereign’s beloved daughter, fell seriously ill. None of the court doctors, nor any of the visiting doctors, were able to cure her. Melancholy and despondency entered the sovereign's palace, located near the sea.
And then the sovereign ordered to send a dignitary with guards to the lands of Ede and bring the great seer I Loire. And so envoys from the Viet sovereign came to the village of I Loire.
- O venerable seer! - they begged. - Have mercy, heal our princess. Check, find out why she doesn’t eat, doesn’t drink, doesn’t talk and doesn’t laugh. Our sovereign is waiting for you.
And Loire was seriously frightened and began to refuse: he was no seer, and the path to the seashore was too difficult and long.
– Is the path difficult for someone who can choose to ride either a horse or an elephant? - answered the sovereign dignitary. - But if you don’t want to ride on horseback, we can take you to the palace in a palanquin! We don’t dare disobey the sovereign and return without you...
There was nothing to do, and Loire had to climb into the palanquin, and the procession set off.
The guards carried the palanquin, replacing each other, and poor Yi Loire thought: “I have been lucky many times, but now it seems the hour of reckoning has come. I won’t be able to point out the cause of the princess’s illness - I won’t blow my head off, for the Viet ruler is strict and severe. Maybe try to run away? And he leaned out of the palanquin to get a good look at the road. Then some thorny branch hit And Loire on the nose, and a deep scratch was formed.
Anyone else would have been upset and Loire would have been upset, but he suddenly became happy, even laughed at the top of his lungs. And all because the sly And Loir saw his salvation in this scratch.
Finally, the seer was brought to the sovereign's palace. When they met, they showed him all kinds of honors and surrounded him with attention. But the seer was gloomy and unsmiling, and in a dissatisfied voice he announced to the sovereign that on the way here, due to the negligence of the guards carrying the palanquin, his nose was scratched by a thorny branch. And now his nose for a long time, and maybe forever, has lost the ability to capture the finest odors.
The Viet sovereign was incredibly upset, ordered the negligent guards to be roughly punished, and invited I Loire himself to stay for several days in the palace.
Meanwhile, the sick princess overheard the maids talking about this incident, and it amused her so much that for the first time in many days she laughed. From that moment on, the illness subsided from her, and the girl gained strength hour by hour.
The sovereign's happiness knew no bounds. To celebrate, he generously gave gifts to I Loire and escorted him home with honor.
This is how the lucky man of the Loire lived in ancient times!
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru