Once upon a time there lived a young man named Manimporok. He was very hardworking, knew how to farm the land and hunt, and from the time he learned to hold a hoe in his hands and set traps for animals, his parents had no worries.
There were many fruit trees growing on their land, and one day Manimporok noticed that every day at noon a large white bird flew in and pecked bananas. The beauty of the bird struck Manimporok so much that he did not drive it away, and only when there were almost no bananas left did Manimporok decide to set a trap. The next day, a beautiful bird fell into it, but when Manimporok wanted to grab it, it suddenly spoke in a human voice:
“Don’t kill me, sir, I will repay you for your kindness.”
- How will you repay me?
- Take the ring off my leg and you will understand for yourself.
This is what Manimporok did, and what was his surprise when the bird turned into a beautiful girl! Manimporok was dumbfounded, and when he came to his senses, he immediately bowed at her feet.
- May the lady forgive my guilt! - he said.
“You are not to blame for anything,” the girl answered.
- Tell me, madam, how can I serve you?
“If you want to marry me, put this ring on your finger,” the girl said, smiling.
Manimporok immediately put on the ring, and the girl became his wife. Manimporok named it Wulan-Kalenoan, which means "full moon". He took Wulan to his house, and then threw a big feast, and they lived together. Manimporok could not get enough of his young wife, who was always by his side and worked tirelessly.
One day, his friend named Merentek came to visit Manimporok. This man sold axes. The beauty of Vulan, which he saw for the first time, amazed Merentek, but he admired her hard work even more.
One morning Merentek and Manimporok went hunting. About three hours later, Merentek quietly left Manimporok, returned to his hut and said:
“Vulan, a misfortune happened to your husband, let’s go help him!”
So the insidious Merentek managed to deceive Vulan and kidnap her. Vulan realized that the man who called himself a friend of her husband was a deceiver, but she pretended that she was following him of her own free will, because the evil Merentek could have killed her.
In the evening, Manimporok returned home and saw that his hut was empty. He began to look everywhere for Vulan, but she was nowhere to be found, and then Manimporok realized that it was Merentek who had kidnapped his wife.
Manimporok searched and searched for them, but everything was in vain. The next day, Manimporok, having lost all hope, stopped to rest in the forest and accidentally turned the ring on his finger. A cockatoo immediately flew up to him and asked:
-Who are you looking for, sir?
“Vulan, my wife,” answered Manimporok.
“She was kidnapped by Merentek,” said the cockatoo. “He is now hiding on the island of Tatanaan.”
Then Manimporok went to ask for help from his uncle Lolombulan. Lolombulan gave him two red fruits of the turmeric plant and ordered the cockatoo to take them to Wulan. When Wulan saw the fruits, she immediately understood everything and said to Merentek:
– Chew these fruits for me – my lower back hurts, and I want to rub it with turmeric.
Merentek began to chew the fruits of red turmeric, became intoxicated by them and fell soundly asleep. The cockatoo immediately flew to Manimporok and told him about it.
Manimporok and his uncle Lolombulan traveled in a boat to the island of Tatanaan. They found Merentek, tied him up and took him with them. Merentek woke up when it was already too late: the deceiver himself turned out to be deceived. Lolombulan gathered his fellow villagers, brought Merentek to them and told them about his action. As punishment, fellow villagers rubbed red pepper on Merentek, beat him and marched him through the entire village.
And Vulan and Manimporok began to live in happiness and contentment, and three sons and two daughters were born to them.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru