Once upon a time there lived an old shepherd. His name was Chat Khan. The khan had a lot of cattle. There were also many shepherds. The shepherd's job is difficult: there are only worries and no joys at all.
Chatkhan thought for a long time about how to make the life of the shepherds easier, and came up with an idea: he knocked together a long and narrow box from planks, stretched hair strings on it and began to play on them. In the evenings, shepherds came to listen to his music. The seven strings of hair rang so beautifully that people’s hearts sank sweetly, birds folded their wings in flight, animals stopped their flight. Enchanted fish froze in rivers and lakes, and herds of horses listened to magical music in the steppe. The work of the shepherds became easy. As soon as the herd broke up, Chatkhan took his music box, touched the strings, and the herds gathered again. Chatkhan alone managed the khan's countless herds.
One day something bad happened. One-eyed robbers learned about the magic instrument. They came from beyond the mountains, killed the old man, took away the music box, and stole the poor people's cattle. Only the khan's herds remained in the steppe.
The old man had a grandson. He grew by leaps and bounds. When he grew up, he told his mother:
- Make me a bow and arrows.
His mother made him a bow from a tabylka and cut arrows from a waistcoat. Chatkhan's grandson became a good shooter. If he shoots an arrow to the right, thirty birds fall; if he shoots it to the left, he kills forty birds. The mother strictly forbade her son to go beyond the big mountain. And the boy is curious what is there, behind the high mountain. One day he climbed to the top and saw near
caves are a large house without windows. The boy crept up to the house and listened. Behind the wall, human voices buzzed like bees. One said:
- The food is over... Another added:
- We need to call the barn mare. A third suggested:
- It would be nice to slaughter a barn cow and a barn sheep.
Suddenly everything in the house became quiet and wonderful music was heard. The forests swayed, the leaves on the trees fluttered. It became easy and fun all around. The mare neighed, the cow mooed, and the sheep bleated. They ran straight to the house and stopped. The boy hid behind a large stone and began to watch what would happen next.
Seven black people came out of the house. They had one eye on the left side of their heads. Instead of faces there was one huge mouth with two fangs. They slaughtered animals and began bringing meat into the house.
The boy has not eaten pets for a long time. He stretched an arrow from behind the stone and pierced the horse, cow and sheep breasts with the tip. The one-eyed robbers did not notice anything.
The boy brought his catch to his mother. She was very happy, since she also had not eaten meat for a long time. After all, only the khan had the cattle, and the shepherds had nothing.
But when the mother found out where her son went and where he got the brisket, she became sad and scolded him greatly.
- These robbers killed your grandfather. I'm afraid there wouldn't be a new disaster. Why did you go there? - said the mother.
“Don’t be afraid of anything,” answered the boy.
The next day he took his bow and arrows and went over the mountain again.
He crept up to the house and began to listen. There was a lot of arguing in the house.
“Who ate the brisket?” asked one.
“I probably ate it myself,” answered the other.
“There was no cow or lamb brisket, you ate it all on the sly,” said the third.
They argued and argued and decided to count the bones. We counted - no briskets. Then one said:
“You all don’t understand anything.” Chatkhan's grandson has grown up. This is his doing. We must kill him
The one-eyed people ran out of the house, hurrying, pushing each other. They were almost completely blind. We held hands and walked down the mountain.
The boy waited a little and made his way into the house. He dug a deep hole in front of the door, covered it with branches, and covered the branches with earth. After that, he took his grandfather’s instrument and began to play.
The One-Eyed Ones heard and ran back. They had just rushed to the door when everyone fell into the hole. The boy stoned them all and buried a hole.
He took the wonderful box and played on it. A cave opened, horses neighed, cows mooed, and sheep bleated. The boy walked down the mountain, plucking the strings, and the herds followed him.
The boy played a wonderful instrument and sang to them about evil khans, about good and mighty heroes.
Since then, the people called the magic box Chatkhan in honor of the old man, and the boy was nicknamed Haiji.
[Tabylka is a meadowsweet plant.]
[Haiji is a folk singer.]
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru