Once upon a time there lived an old man and an old woman in the same village, but they had no children. The old man and the old woman grieved greatly. One day an old man says:
“Come on, old woman, let’s make ourselves a son from dough.” “Come on,” agreed the old woman. She kneaded the dough, fashioned a little man out of it, wrapped the little man in a rag and put it on the stove.
The dough man lay on the stove for a day, lay there for another... And on the third day the old man could not stand it and said:
- Look, old woman, how our son is doing.
And suddenly a voice was heard from the stove:
- It's hot here! Get me off the stove! The old man and the old woman were delighted, they took their son off the stove and he really was like a real boy, only very small.
A boy lives in a hut with an old man and an old woman and grows by leaps and bounds.
The boy grew up for twelve days, grew into a strong guy, and on the thirteenth day he said to the old man and the old woman:
“You raised me and fed me, now I will feed you.” I'll go find someone to work for.
“After all, you are only twelve days old,” said the old man, “where should you work!”
“I sense heroic strength in myself,” the boy answers him, “I can cope with any job.”
He hired himself out as a farm laborer to an evil and greedy rich man. The rich man gave his farmhand so much work that ten men couldn’t handle it, but the guy managed everything alone.
People nicknamed the son of the old man and the old woman for his strength Nonchyk-patyr, which means “Dough Hero.”
Nonchyk-Patyr works, does not refuse any work, and time passes. And now the time has come to pay the owner and the farmhand for their work.
And then the greedy owner, in order not to pay, decided to destroy Nonchyk-patyr.
The owner thought and thought about how to destroy Nonchyk-patyr, and finally came up with an idea.
He called him and said:
- Go to the distant fields and bring my sheep from there.
And in the far field there were no sheep grazing; packs of hungry wolves were wandering there. The owner hoped that the hungry wolves would devour Nonchyk-patyr.
Nonchyk-patyr came to the far field.
- Well, come here! - he shouted to the wolves. Wander around the field, you forgot your owner!
Hungry wolves surrounded him, their teeth clicking and about to tear him apart.
Nonchyk-Patyr pulled the birch tree out of the ground by the roots and let’s beat the wolves! The wolves whined and tucked their tails.
Nonchyk Patyr drove them, like a flock of sheep, to the owner's yard. He drove the wolves to the owner's yard:
- Hey, master, open the gate! I brought your sheep!
The owner looked out the window, saw the wolves, shook with fear and hid in the far corner, behind the stove.
“I’m sick, I can’t go out!” - the owner shouts from behind the stove. - Open the gate yourself and drive the sheep into the barn.
Nonchyk-Patyr drove the wolves into the barn and went to sleep in the hayloft.
Nonchyk-patyr is sleeping, snoring throughout the house.
And the owner has no time for sleep.
“What a worker I have!” the owner thinks. “He doesn’t even care about wolves. How can I get rid of him?”
And the owner came up with the idea of sending Nonchyk-patyr into the forest to the bears. “The bears,” he decided, “will not let Nonchyk-patyr go alive.”
- Go to the forest, bring my horses from there! - the owner orders Nonchyk-patyr.
Nonchyk-patyr came to the forest, raised the bears from their dens and drove them to the owner’s yard. He drives and even shouts:
- Well, go home! They forgot their owner!
The owner saw that Nonchyk-Patyr was chasing the bears, ran into the hut, locked himself with all the bolts and shouted:
- Drive the horses into the barn yourself!
Nonchyk-Patyr drove the bears into the barn and went to bed.
Nonchyk-Patyr slept soundly that night, but the owner had no time for sleep. He called his rich neighbors and began asking them for advice.
The neighbors advised sending Nonchyk-patyr to the Devil's Lake: let the devils drag him away.
The owner became cheerful and said to Nonchyk-patyr:
— About three years ago, my brother went to live in Devil’s Lake and since then he has never visited me. Go find him and invite him to come to me for koman melna (flaky pancakes, the Mari national dish).
Nonchyk Patyr came to Devil's Lake.
The lake is overgrown with black sedge, spilled with rotten water in the middle of the swamp, covered with small duckweed, and under the duckweed a bottomless quagmire sways.
People walked around this lake a mile away, and at night even ten.
An old shaggy devil jumped out of the water, grabbed Nonchyk-patyr, and pulled him into the quagmire. But Nonchyk-patyr does not give in. He hit the devil on the forehead with his fist, shook him by the collar like a kitten, and said:
- It’s not good to forget your relatives! Your brother is calling you to Koman Melna. Well, get ready - let's go visit!
And he dragged the devil into the village.
The owner saw that Nonchyk Patyr was returning safe and sound and dragging the shaggy devil behind him, he waved his arms and shouted in a bad voice:
“Apparently, my brother doesn’t want to go visit.” Don't hold it! Let him return to his lake! Nonchyk-patyr released the devil and said:
- Well, master, my term of work has ended - now pay what you are due.
There was nothing to do, the greedy rich man had to pay the employee.
He paid the price, but harbored a grudge.
Nonchyk-Patyr returned to his home to his father and mother, gave them the money he had earned, and went for a walk on the street.
The children of the rich owner were playing in the street; the poor had no time to play - they had to work.
Nonchyk-patyr approached them and asked the guys to accept him into their game.
- Catch a flying arrow with your teeth - then we’ll accept it! - they answer.
Nonchyk-patyr fired an arrow from his bow straight into the blue sky. The arrow flew away beyond the clouds, and as it began to fall down, Nonchyk-Patyr caught it with his teeth.
“Now,” the owner’s children tell him, “dive into this hole, swim to the middle of the river and break the ice - then we will accept you into our game!”
Nonchyk-patyr dived into the ice hole, swam to the middle of the river, broke the thick ice with his head and went out.
- Now break the stone mountain - then we will accept you into our game!
Nonchyk-Patyr approached the stone mountain, kicked the mountain with his foot - the stone mountain swayed, kicked it another time - stones fell from the mountain. He kicked seven times - the mountain crumbled into small pebbles, but his heroic strength left Nonchyk-patyr.
Then the children told their father: Nonchyk-patyr no longer had his heroic strength.
The owner was delighted and ordered his servants to dig a hole forty fathoms deep, and then grab Nonchyk-patyr, tie him tightly and throw him into that hole.
Some servants ran to dig a hole, others attacked Nonchyk-patyr, tied his arms and legs with strong belts and threw him into the hole.
Nonchyk-patyr lies in a deep hole for a day, and two, and a month, looking at the clear sky.
A crow flew in and sat on the edge of the hole.
Nonchyk Patyr says to the crow:
- Crow, crow, fly to my father, to my mother! Tell them that they tied my hands and feet with strong belts and threw me into a deep hole so that I would die of hunger and thirst.
The crow cawed in response:
“I won’t call your father, I won’t call your mother!” Die quickly - then I will peck out your eyes!
The crow flew away and the magpie flew in.
Nonchyk-patyr began to ask the magpie to call his father and mother.
What do I care? - answered the magpie. “I won’t fly.”
A white goose flew past.
- Hey, white goose! - shouted Nonchyk-Patyr. - Fly to my father, to my mother, tell them that they tied my arms and legs with strong belts and threw me into a deep hole. The rich owner wants me to die of hunger and thirst. I don't have long to live! Let them go quickly, let them bring a fat bull, let them bring a sharp axe!
The goose rose high into the sky and flew to the old people.
- Hey, grandpa! Hey grandma! Evil people threw your son into a deep hole. He is calling you for help. Orders to bring a fat bull and bring a sharp axe!
The old man and the old woman cried and said:
- Don't laugh at us, goose! Our son is no longer alive, he was killed. Only bones remained from Nonchyk-patyr...
“No, he’s not dead,” answered the goose, “just hurry, he doesn’t have long to live.”
The old man and the old woman trusted the goose, drove the bull to the deep pit where Nonchyk-Patyr was languishing, and brought a sharp ax.
A crow saw an old man and an old woman and screamed:
- Kar-kar! Father and mother are walking, chasing a bull, carrying an ax. If Nonchyk-Patyr eats a bull, his heroic strength will return to him and he will cut his strong fetters with an ax!
The owner got scared and ordered the servants:
- Fill the hole to the top with sand, cover it with stones - let Nonchyk-patyr suffocate.
And the old man had already pushed the bull into the pit. Nonchyk-Patyr ate the bull, and his heroic strength returned to him.
The servants began to fill the hole with sand and stones, and the old man had already thrown an ax into the hole.
Nonchyk-patyr cut all the bonds, rose to his feet, pushed out the sand and stones and left the pit.
When the greedy owner saw Nonchyk-patyr, he got scared and didn’t know what to do, where to hide.
The rich man ran wherever he could. He came across a swamp on his way, and he drowned in that swamp.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru