In one area lived a rat and a field mouse named Pimeken. Each has its own hole, and the entrances to the holes are one opposite the other. They lived together, starving and in poverty. The rat is large and strong, and the field mouse is tiny, the size of a Chinese pipe cup. So they lived, in poverty, wandering and gnawing at anything.
One day Pimaken found a dead black grouse. He couldn't carry it away. Having eaten his fill, he went to tell the rat:
- Hey, sister, listen, I’ll tell you about what can bring us wealth and joy!
The rat's eyes widened with joy and he ran around the mouse.
- Well, tell me, brother, where you found such a treasure.
- Well, what treasure is there?! Who could have dropped it for me to find?! I was just looking for something to eat out of hunger and found a dead black grouse.
As soon as he said this, the rat dragged him along so that he could show his find.
“Well, okay,” says the rat. “Let’s take a little bit now, and early tomorrow morning we’ll bring the rest.” Now you and I are tired. Isn't it true?
Pimeken is small. He agreed with what the elder said:
-We can do it tomorrow. Just be careful not to steal without me at night!
“Well, okay,” says the rat. “Will I do anything to offend you?!”
Pimeken and the rat went to their holes, carrying a piece of meat on their backs.
As soon as they arrived and it got a little light, the rat listened to see if Pimeken was sleeping. Deciding that he had fallen asleep, the rat ran to steal the meat. She dragged all the black grouse into her hole.
Early in the morning Pimeken got up and went to look at his black grouse. And there are no black grouse there. The rat had already moved everything a long time ago. Pimeken was very angry, but still did not cry. Gathering everything he had, he attacked the rat hole. A terrible swearing and fight began in the hole.
But how can little Pimeken resist a big rat?! Having received a beater from the rat, he left. During the squabble they agreed; “Tomorrow at dawn we will call here big and small animals from all over the world. Let them judge our litigation.” The rat agreed with these words of Pimekan.
Early in the morning, when it was just dawn, they somehow managed to call all the animals. At the entrance to the hole, many different animals gathered - a bear, a tiger, wolves, lions and small animals. First the rat began to speak:
— I found a dead black grouse yesterday. Pimeken and I shared it. First they took a knapsack, and then agreed to carry this black grouse the next morning. At night, someone stole our black grouse. That's how it was.
At this point the rat stopped talking. Pimeken got angry. He's small, his face is covered in blood. He said:
- Look, great brothers, which of us is right and which is wrong? How can we, small people, resist those who are bigger than us?! And it was like that. One day the rat and I were wandering around in search of food. I found a dead grouse. Then he showed the rat his find. We took one knapsack of meat each, but most of it remained in place. How could I, a little man, carry much?! Look for yourself and you will understand which of us carried away more.
At this trial, the forest animals decided this: in order to protect little Pimeken, they should immediately kill the rat.
They killed a rat.
- Well, okay, brother Pimeken, you are so small! How difficult it is for you to live! - so said the tiger. - Hey, friends, kill the roe deer so that he has enough food until he dies.
As soon as he said so, the animals grabbed a large roe deer and killed it. After that, everyone went to their places, to their holes, and Pimeken remained and lived, eating meat.
Pimeken lived like this and turned into a man. He became a little boy. And when he became a man, it became uncomfortable for him to live in a hole. He set off on his journey. He walked and walked through the forest and came to a sea cape. Having crossed the cape, he saw a large nomadic camp. I went to him. Climbing up to the city shore, I met some official. This official says to Pimeken:
- Dear son, where are you from? Come to me, be my son. Pimeken answers him:
- How can I be your son? I can't live with you. After all, I'm a mouse.
- It’s okay, even if you’re a little mouse, come be my son. Why are you a mouse? After all, you are a human?!
Pimeken agreed and began to live and live with that old official. One day he started crying early in the morning and continued crying until the evening. The father-official asks him:
- Dear son, why are you crying? If you need anything, tell me, child. I will do everything I can for you.
Pimeken called the old official father.
“Father,” he says, “I ask you for a bow and arrows.” His father made him the best bow and arrows. Pimeken was terribly happy. In the morning he left and hunted with a bow until the moon rose. He hunted ducks, knocking them down in whole flocks. If a duck flew over his head, it never left alive. So the boy Pimeken grew up as a daredevil, a shooter, and a trickster.
One day Pimekan's father asked him:
“Child, how do you beat ducks and not let one go alive?”
- This is nothing, father! Look, there's a flock of geese flying south. Now I will shoot my arrow at that flock. Look, I will leave that first, leading bird and the last, trailing bird. You can’t kill everyone, otherwise the young birds will get lost.
Having said this, Pimeken pulled the bowstring to his ear, whooped and shot an arrow. And in fact it happened. Of the flock of birds, I only left the first and last, and all the rest fell head over heels.
Feeding on these birds, Pimeken lived on. So he lived, grew up, and then one day a royal envoy came to the city.
“The war is beginning, friend official,” he says. - The king is calling you to war.
Pimakan listened to all this. Then he came to his father:
- Father, I will go instead of you.
The father hugged Pimeken.
- Look, dear son, you are still small, you still have further to grow and live. Okay, I'll go myself. Pimeken began to persuade his father:
- I'll go, father! If you don't let me go, I won't live here. I’ll go myself, even though they don’t ask me to.
When he said this, the father thought: “That’s right,” and agreed. After this, Pimeken set off. Whether he walked far or he walked close, he reached one city. I thought: “Well, where can I spend the night here? After all, I don’t know anyone.” As he sat and thought this way, an old man approached him.
- Well, hello, dear fellow, where are you from? What business are you coming here for?
Pimeken looked at him intently. He was a tall, blackish old man with a beard down to his waist. Pimeken didn’t have time to answer anything, but the old man immediately began asking again:
- Look, dear child. You're still young. Come be my son.
Pimeken did not refuse, he agreed. Now Pimeken began to live with that old man. One day the old man said to Pimeken:
- Look, dear son, you are not little anymore. After all, you understand everything that people say. Be careful not to go behind this house. There are evil spirits there. In the evenings they fly there. Don't go!
Pimeken understood all this, but he was very interested in it. He always wanted to go and see. One day, when it was already dusk, he went behind the house. He walked in and saw that there were no evil spirits there. There was only a large Manchu chapel in the house. And on the table near that house there were donuts in a basket. Pimeken thought to himself:
“This is very tasty food! Let me try one thing.” I ate one donut. I wanted to take the second one, but immediately lost consciousness. He doesn't even understand where he is.
Then Pimeken woke up riding a black horse. In his hand he has a magical golden sword. He fights with swords with some beautiful girl, but no one can pierce anyone. The girl's horse was white. They fought so that sometimes they ended up on the horse’s croup, then on the head, then under the belly. While they were fighting like this, the old man who raised Pimeken came.
- Well, dear children, you have already fought and learned. Now no one can defeat you.
As soon as he said this, the two fighters stopped fighting. Then the old man called both children to him.
- Well, look, dear children: someone has now attacked us. Go meet them halfway, measure your strength, test their strength and agility.
Then Pimeken and the girl rode off on their horses. They jump and see people standing thick like grass. Pimeken and the girl pulled out their magic golden swords. Then they began to wave them and mow them like they mow grass. Cutting down everyone, they together made their way through the ranks of their enemies. How sword meets sword, like thunder roaring. They will raise their swords up, blood dripping like rain. Sparks fly from the swords. This is how Pimeken and the girl fought with their enemies.
Jumping from there, we arrived at a place as flat as a steppe. They looked from there and two horsemen, just like them, a man and a woman, set off their horses at a gallop. Our riders prepared to meet like heroes with heroes. So they fought day and night, shaking the surrounding area with thunder.
From the other side they ask Pimeken:
-Where are you from? What tribe are you?
“I’m a Manchu,” Pimeken answers. - My name is Pimeken.
From the other side they say:
- And we are from the Gaodong clan (one of the Chinese clans). We were taught by the heavenly god.
After that, they went in different directions - Pimeken with his girlfriend and those two.
Pimeken arrived home and returned to the owner of the chapel - that old man with a waist-length beard. The old man asks him:
-Have you seen or met anyone equal to you in battle?
“We saw two people,” said Pimeken, “a woman and a man.” Meet met and try tried. But no one knocked anyone down or won.
After this, Pimaken said that he was leaving to join his former father. The old man with the beard gave him the lower part of the city. And he married that girl. Then he went home, taking his village with him. Arrived in my father's city. And then Pimeken began to run up and down the river. If he takes a big step, a big house appears; if he takes a small step, a small house appears. Those who have many children move into large houses, those who have few children move into small houses. Pimeken began to live and govern these two large cities. Those traveling up the river put a mark here so they know where the Mergen lives. Those traveling down the river are sure to stop by.
He lived richly and in contentment. In the evening, he gave whatever was left of his food to the poor.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru