They say this happened a long time ago. It happened in that camp where seven clans lived, where seven plagues stood!
One day all the men gathered to hunt. Let's go. Only women and children remained in the camp.
We lived for three days, everything was fine. On the third day in the evening, this is what happened. In one tent, a woman cooked food for herself. She added more wood to the fireplace and hung the cauldron of reindeer meat over the fire. She sat down with her small child closer to the fireplace. The child laughs on her lap, the woman smiles at him.
Suddenly a log cracked, sparks flew from the hearth, one hit the child’s hand. The child began to cry. The woman reproaches the fire:
- What are you doing?! I feed you firewood, I look after you, and you insult my child!
The child was frightened by his mother’s scream and began to cry even more. A woman carries him around, rocks him in her arms, but he doesn’t let up. Out of pity and frustration, the woman spanked the baby. The child went completely crazy. A woman should blame herself, but she keeps getting angry at the fire.
- See what you've done! - shouts. -You won’t have any wood, I’ll chop you up and fill you with water!
She put the child in the cradle and grabbed an ax. An ax cuts fire. Then she filled a ladle with water and splashed it on the hearth - the fire hissed and went out.
The woman says:
- Now you will know how to offend my son! Not a single light, not a single spark is left from you!
The fire doesn't burn. It's dark and cold in the plague. The child cried pitifully: he was cold.
The woman came to her senses. She bent over the fireplace, raking away the ashes. But she herself said that she would not leave a single spark. And she didn’t leave.
And the son is still crying. The mother thought: “I’ll run to the neighbor’s tent, get some fire, light the hearth.”
She ran. As soon as I entered the neighbors’ house, the flame in their fireplace began to waver and began to set. Then the last blue light released a stream of smoke and went out.
The woman ran to other neighbors. She opened the door a little, and there was no fire. She didn’t even come in, she immediately closed the door. I walked around the entire camp, and everywhere the fire went out. Only one more, the last plague is burning.
The old woman lived there and lived out her life. I knew a lot, I saw a lot. A woman stood in front of the tent, afraid to enter. So what should I do? Her little son might freeze completely. She came in.
The fire puffed, smoked and went out. The woman began to cry. And the old woman is raking out the ashes, looking for a spark of coal in the ashes. There is no ember, no spark. The hearth is cold and dark.
“This has never happened before,” said the old woman. “I take care of my fire, I feed it enough.” I go to bed and cover the coals with ashes. Why did the fire go out? Have you done something, you cold frog? Have you offended the fire in your hearth?
The woman bowed her head and was silent.
“That’s right,” said the old woman. “What should we do now?” Well, let's go to your tent and take a look.
The two of us left the tent together. They are going encampment. Quiet everywhere, dark. It was as if people had left the camp, as if it had died out.
In the plague of a woman, the child was all sparkling, and could no longer cry. The old woman took the sulfur tree and began to make fire. I worked for a long time, but the fire did not light up.
The old woman lowered her tired hands and again said to the woman:
- Holy is the fire in the hearth, it gives life to us all. It shines, warms and feeds. The fire went out - it’s like the sun went out. We will freeze, we will disappear, evil death will take us.
The old woman knelt down and then saw the Mistress of Fire. She sits in the corner of the hearth. Her clothes are gray, like ash, and her skin glows like a coal that has been covered with ash.
The Mistress of Fire swayed back and forth and said to the old woman:
- Why are you trying? There will be no fire for you. The woman offended me greatly. She chopped my face with an ax, poured water into my eyes, and screamed evil words!
The old lady began to ask:
- Don’t be angry, Mistress of Fire! Have pity on us! This stupid woman is to blame, others are not to blame.
The Mistress of Fire shakes her head, her hair flutters like blue smoke.
And the old woman prays again:
- Tell me, what can I do to make the fire burn again in the hearths? We will do everything you order. The mistress of fire replied:
“There are no such words, neither I nor you have such strength to make the fire burn as before.” Now it can only be ignited from the human heart.
A young woman is sitting, clutching a child to her chest, crying.
The old lady tells her:
- See what you did? All seven human races must perish because of you, foolish one! Hunters as brave as angry bears, strong as elk, will perish. Hardworking women will wither away by cold fires. And small children will die, and old men, and old women. Because there is no life without fire.
The woman's tears dried up. She got up, gave the child to the old woman, and said:
- Take care of him!
And she threw herself onto the stones of the hearth. The mistress of the fire touched her chest with her finger, and the flame immediately shot up, the fire began to hum, and the fire raged in the hearth. All you could see was how the Mistress of Fire grabbed the woman with her fiery arms and carried her, along with the sparks, into the smoke hole.
And the old lady said:
From this plague will come a fairy tale-legend about how a fire was lit from a living heart. The Selkups will forever remember what happened in our camp. They will take care of the fire in the hearth!
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru