There lived an old man, his name was Normeryshkho. The doors of his kunatskaya were always open for guests, and it was rarely empty.
One day a tall and stately young man came to visit him. He talked to the owner about what kind of swag there was in the village, and then he got up and began to walk importantly along the kunatskaya, holding the hilt of the dagger.
The owner was surprised.
- What, Natshauko, is bothering you? - he asked the guest.
“I would like to meet a man with whom I could measure my strength and test my horse.” “I think there is no person in the world who could defeat me,” answered the guest.
“You are young and stupid, you don’t know life and people, and that’s why you say such words,” said the old man. - When I was young, I was like you. But one horseman made me convinced that this was not so. You have not yet met such a person, and you think that there is no one stronger than you in the world. I am an old man, but I could measure my strength with you. But I won’t do this - I’d rather tell you how they taught me a lesson.
There were several of us on horseback, and we fought with the enemy army. We fought fearlessly. I was in the thick of the battle, I didn’t want people to say that Normeryshkho was on the sidelines. When the battle was in full swing, our enemies brought against us an extraordinary warrior - a real giant. He managed to get around me, and I found myself in his grip. He held me so tightly that I couldn't even move. He led me straight to the leader of the army.
“Don’t disgrace me, it’s better to kill me right away,” I asked him.
And he didn’t even deign to answer me - he silently led me to the leader’s tent. When there were no more than a hundred steps left to the tent, a shot rang out behind me, and I felt that no one was holding me.
I looked back and saw that the giant had been killed and fell off his horse with a roar. The one who shot him sat on a white horse and was dressed in white clothes. He quickly disappeared from sight, but I decided to definitely find my savior.
I hit my horse with the whip three times and rushed after him. I galloped as hard as I could, but I couldn’t catch up with him. I began to whip my horse so hard that the rider heard the sound of my whip. He looked back and said:
- Normeryshkho, you are as stupid as you are great! You chased me at dawn and you can chase me until the sun sets, but you still won’t catch me. You want to know who I am, what court I came from and what family I come from, but you will never know!
Then I realized that this was not a horseman, I guessed from the voice that it was a woman...
The old man finished his story and looked intently at Natshauko.
“That’s how it was with me, my boy.” Don't look for people stronger than you - there are many of them. If you hit one of these, you will die ingloriously.
- Wollagi, you spoke the truth! - answered the young horseman. - What I wanted to do was bad childishness!
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru