One day a mother went to the barn, and her son asked from under the barn, which stood on stilts:
- Mother, give me some fish belly yukola!
- You can come home and eat. When did you eat on the street?!
- Mother, give me some yukola, cut into pieces!
- You can come home and eat. When did you eat on the street?!
- Mother, give me some fish back yukola!
- You can come home and eat. When did you eat on the street?!
- Mother, give me some yukola from the middle!
- You can come home and eat. When did you eat on the street?!
Then the mother went downstairs, but her son was not there, no matter how she looked, she could not find her.
The mother cries day and night.
So she lived and lived, it began to get warmer in the yard, the birds began to return from warmer climes.
- Klokhtu-u-n, don’t you know any news about my son! Klokhtun says:
- Hohor-r, hohor-r, I don’t know!
“Kosach, don’t you know about my son, haven’t you heard any news?”
Kosach says:
- Gileng-gileng, I don’t know news about your son!
- Goose, have you heard any news about my son? Gus says:
- Kalanlah-kalanlah, I don’t know, I don’t know anything about your son!
- Raven, do you know any news about my son?
- You will recognize those flying behind, kar, you will recognize, kar!
Then the swan flies.
- Swan, do you know any news about my son?
“Hun-hun-hun, your son,” he says, “has become like the webbed feet of a duck, and his nose has become like a duck’s nose!” Your son said: Let me eat the fish belly yukola that I regretted! Your son said: Yukola, cut into pieces, which I regretted, let her eat it herself! Your son said: Let me eat the fish back yukola that I regretted! Your son said: Yukola from the middle, which I regretted, let her eat it herself! If you meet your mother, tell her this,” he said.
Then the gaglushka bird flies. Mother asks:
From the collection Tales of the Peoples of the USSR. M., 1986.
- Do you know any news about my son?
- Mother, mother, konger-r! Fish belly yukola, which I regretted, the lady, eat it, konger-r! Yukola from the top layer, which I regretted, eat it yourself, konger-r! Yukola, cut into pieces, which I regretted, eat it yourself, konger-r! I feel sorry for the fish back yukola, eat it yourself, konger-r! Yukola from the middle, which I regretted, eat it yourself, konger-r!
- Child, come down! Child, come down!
- How can I get down, konger-r, when my legs have become webbed duck feet, konger-r, and my nose has become a duck’s nose, konger-r!
So he flew over and did not come down.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru