A long time ago, when ancient forests rustled in the place of the tundra, when there were no severe frosts, there lived one man and his wife. This man's name was Kybyl-kikhi (Wild Man). They lived at the top of the same hill. There was no human habitation around them for several thousand miles. They obtained food by hunting wild deer and fishing.
They became bored with living without people, they had no children, and the wife began to say to her husband every day:
“I’d like to go somewhere, maybe you’ll find people.” If you find it, let’s go to them, it’s boring here, we’ve been living on this hill for more than forty years.
And Kyyl began to prepare for a long journey; he did not know where to go, because when he hunted, he did not go far. He collected everything he needed, took a bow and three arrows and said to his wife:
“Every three years I will send one arrow, and you will know that I am alive.” When three years have passed since the last, third arrow, then know that I am no longer alive, and then you get ready and go to people, but not along my path.
Having said these words, Kyyl-kikhi walked straight towards the sunrise.
Whether it’s going to be long or short, he doesn’t know: it’s raining, which means it’s summer; It's snowing, which means it's winter. I crossed stormy rivers, made my way through dense forests, met unprecedented animals, but there were no people.
So three years passed, and Kyyl-kikhi fired one arrow right at sunset. He fired two more arrows, he still had three years to go, but so far he had not met anyone except birds and animals.
Two more years have passed since I fired the last arrow, another year passes, one day remains, I need to return home to my wife.
Kyyl sat down on a large stone on the river bank and thought deeply. Suddenly he felt that human voices were heard somewhere and smelled the smell of housing. He was delighted and ran along the river bank. I ran as much as I could and suddenly I saw: a beautiful house stood on a high bank, the sun’s rays were playing on the windows, children were running around the house. A man in beautiful clothes sits on a bench near the house and thinks about something. And he looks at the children playing.
Kyyl looked at this man for a long time; he had not seen people for a very long time. Then he timidly approached the man sitting and said:
- Eleven years have passed since I left the house, eleven years have not heard a human voice, eleven years I have been walking towards the sunrise, and finally I found people. Tell me, what are you thinking about and did I bother you?
And the man in beautiful clothes answers:
“It’s been fifty years since I lost my beloved brother, I’ve been searching all my life and can’t find him. Dying, my father said that if you separated, you would still meet in forty or fifty years and live together. My father left my brother and I a thousand-strong herd of horses, a beautiful house and many expensive things. Now I use all the wealth alone, and my brother got nothing. This is what I thought about, this is what torments me. Tell me, what kind of person are you, where are you coming from, what is your name?
And Kyyl told how he lived with his wife for more than forty years on the top of one hill, how he hunted, how he went to look for people, but left his wife.
After recounting his adventures during this long journey, he said:
“If I don’t notify my wife tomorrow, she will assume that I am dead or killed, and she will leave the house to look for people, and I will never see her again.” My name is Kyyl-kikhi.
The man in fine clothes knew that his missing brother had a large black spot on the sole of his left foot.
Believing the words of his deceased father, he secretly hoped that the man who came was his brother, whom he had been looking for and waiting for all his life.
The hosts fed the tired traveler heartily and put him to bed. They themselves decided that when the person who came fell asleep, they needed to slowly look at the foot of their left foot. If there is a big black spot, then he is the one they have been looking for for a long time.
When the tired traveler fell fast asleep, the owner of the beautiful house quietly entered the room where the traveler was sleeping. He lifted the blanket from his legs and shouted in surprise. There was a large black spot on the sole of his left foot. As if without memory, he shouted:
- My brother! My brother has been found! People, come here, I found my brother!
With a cry he rushed to hug the sleeping man. So he found his brother, whom he had been looking for for a long time, and felt like the happiest man on earth.
The next morning he brought the golden-maned horse to Kyylu, his brother, and said:
- Get on this horse and ride to your wife, bring her, we will live together. And forget your name, Kyyl; You are now no longer a “wild man”, but the youngest son of the almighty hero Erse, and I am your elder brother.
The youngest son of the almighty hero Erse sat on a golden-maned horse, shouted in a heroic voice and rode on a winged horse through forests and mountains, across seas and oceans right into the sunset. Only a whistle stood on the ground, over which the golden-maned horse rushed.
A little time passed when a small house began to be visible in the distance at the top of a high hill. This was Kyyl's house. Kyyl's wife was getting ready to travel. On this day the deadline expired. If Kyyl does not come before noon, she will leave her home forever, and now she was sitting and getting ready for a long journey.
Suddenly she heard some terrible noise, as if a hurricane had hit. The house swayed and the windows rattled. It was Kyyl who rode on a winged horse to take his wife with him to his native land.
Kyyl's meeting with his wife was joyful. The next day they flew on a winged golden-maned horse to their elder brother.
When they returned, the elder brother equally divided everything that the famous hero Erse had left to his sons, called many people and threw a feast for the whole earth.
This is how the two brothers began to live and live. The people elected them as their leaders. For a long time there were no wars on earth, when they ruled the country, people lived freely and well on earth, and for a long time peace reigned everywhere. The famous hero Erse lived a glorious life; he established peace on earth and, while dying, ordered his sons not to allow wars between nations. The sons of their heroic father turned out to be worthy. And now, when people hear that there is a war going on somewhere, blood is being shed, they shake their heads and say: “Yes, there is no hero Erse and his glorious sons, if they were alive, there would be no wars between nations.”
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru