The Narts lived for a very long time: many for more than a thousand years. Up to a hundred years a person still retains his size, and after that he begins to shrink. When the old people became small, like infants, the Nart daughters-in-law kept them in cradles, and then, when this became impossible, they transferred them to pumpkins, cleaned from the inside and dried, which were tied to the ceilings. And everyone who passed by such a pumpkin did the necessary care or rocked it so that the inhabitant could fall asleep. And this continued until the person disappeared completely.
And, of course, the whole burden of caring for the elderly was on young women. In many houses there were so many dried pumpkins hanging on the ceilings that there was not enough space. The Narts often gathered on Khase to figure out how to make their daughters-in-law's work easier. They reasoned this way or that way, but they couldn’t really come up with anything.
And so it went on until one day one of the Narts suddenly said to the venerable assembly: “Sledges! Listen to me and think. None of us can say where our old people go after their last homes are empty. But we know that they do not die. And this means that those who leave this world before their time do not die. And since this is so, then there will be no sin if we begin to get rid of those old people who are over a hundred years old.” The sledges thought for a long time, but that’s what they decided - to throw everyone who is over a hundred years old from the cliff. And that rock - the highest in the country - is called the Old Men's Rock. Many generations have passed since then when it was the turn of one village guy to carry his great-grandfather to the Old Man’s Rock. And when he was already climbing the mountain, carrying the old man in a basket over his shoulders, he tripped over a stone that stuck out on the path. The old man, who had not uttered a sound before, suddenly laughed. “Why are you laughing, grandfather, don’t you know where I’m taking you?” – asked the great-grandson. “I know, granddaughter, how can you not know,” answered the doomed man. “I just remembered that when I was also carrying my great-grandfather to the Old People’s Rock, I tripped over the same stone.”
“I can’t throw my great-grandfather off a cliff,” the great-grandson decided then. So he did, hid it nearby in the mountains and began to look after it.
Time passed, and no one guessed about the guy’s secret. But then one day the Supreme Prince - the ruler of those places - announced that he would give his only beautiful daughter in marriage to the daredevil who would complete his task. And the young man dreamed like thousands and thousands of other young people. After all, this task seemed simple: it was only necessary to see the ray of the morning sun on the appointed day before the others. On the other hand, the guy understood that the simpler the task, the more difficult it would be to get ahead of many who decided to participate in the competition.
He thought for a long time about the hidden meaning of the prince’s task. And when there was no longer a way out, I decided to turn to my great-grandfather. He listened and answered: “Grandson! When your rivals gather on the Rock of the Old Men, and it is there that the rising sun can be seen first, do not look to the east, where the eyes of all those gathered will be directed, but look to the west.” The young man was delighted with what he heard and the next morning he did as the old man advised. “Here it is - the first ray!” – the guy exclaimed, pointing to the light of the sun that touched the clouds on the opposite side of the sky.
The prince asked the young man how he found the answer to his task. He did not lie, he told everything as it happened. The prince, asking to invite the old man too, arranged a magnificent wedding for the young people. The newlyweds lived a long time and had many children. And since then the sledges have stopped throwing off old people, no matter how long they live.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru