Once upon a time in the village of Pingziwei there lived an old woman with her son named Panwan. They did not have a single piece of their own land, and the old mother had to collect brushwood in the mountains for sale, and her son had to graze other people's cattle. Panwan was a very agile and dexterous young man. He loved to run and jump, was good at climbing trees, could lift large boulders and somersault over his head while running. And therefore he was healthy and strong. One day, while he was tending a herd, two bulls began to butt heads. Their eyes became bloodshot, they bent their heads, hit each other with their horns - and grappled so hard that they could not separate. Panwan ran up, grabbed both fighters by the horns and threw them away from each other several fathoms. At the same time, even the horns of the bulls bent, Panwan had such strength! And the young man looked at the heavily breathing bulls and said:
“If you fight again, I’ll completely break off your horns!”
A small river flowed near Pingziwei; A beautiful stone bridge was thrown across it, on which stood a gazebo. The bridge was supported from below by five stone pillars.
The bridge was strong! But when strong winter winds blew, the water in the river rose from streams rushing from the mountains and began to wash away the stone pillars. And this happened every year. But the bridge stood strong for the time being. One cold winter day, the north wind raged especially fiercely, each gust uprooting large trees. Panwan drove his herd across the stone bridge. The bridge shook and swayed as if it were made of bamboo. The young man looked down - ah-ya!
One stone pillar had already fallen, and the bridge itself was about to collapse! It would be bad for the residents of Pingziwei if this happened: after all, the main road passed through the bridge. And building such a bridge with a gazebo again is not an easy task!
Without hesitation, Panwan rolled up his pants and - poo-tong! — jumped from the bridge into the water. Hey! How cold the water is! The young man climbed under the bridge and rested his hands and head on its arch. So he froze, as if cast from steel, not daring to move. My hands quickly became numb, but I couldn’t lower them: after all, the bridge could fall and crush the young man! So Panwan stood and stood, straining his last strength.
At this time, his old mother was returning home with brushwood. The stone bridge swayed in the wind, and the woman bent down to look down. Ay-ya! A stone pillar has fallen! The bridge was about to collapse! How will you fix it later? She instantly threw down her brushwood and - poo-toon! — jumped into the river. Seeing his mother, Panwan shouted:
- Mom, go away, I can handle it alone! The mother realized that her son had been standing here for a long time, and said with love:
- No, son, you can’t hold it alone, the bridge is already shaking. I'll help you!
And she rested her head and hands on the arch of the bridge. Now they stood together, mother and son, opposite each other in the icy water and supported the bridge. Several days passed. A fisherman was swimming past and noticed under the bridge two stone pillars that looked like people. He looked closer and saw that it was Panwan and his old mother standing there. They turned into stone pillars and firmly supported the bridge. The fisherman ran to the village and called the people. People looked at the stone heroes, and tears rolled from their eyes and dripped into the river. Since then, the bridge near Pingziwei has been called the Mother and Son Bridge.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru