They say that a long time ago, when there was no evil in the world and animals could talk, a young man appeared among them. The earth was already inhabited by people, so the animals decided that he came from people.
They also say that one day girls went to swim on the river bank. It was here that they met that same young man. When they approached him, he was fishing. Noticing them, he immediately turned his face to the sky and closed his eyes.
And since none of them had ever met such a handsome young man, the girls immediately surrounded him and began to ask:
-Where are you from, beautiful young man? Answer us! We've never seen you here, but we could have fun together.
The young man did not move. He froze like a statue. Then one of the girls came up to him and, touching his shoulder, said:
- Open your eyes and say your name, because if you don’t, we will take you to the village by force!
The young man immediately jumped up, opened his eyes and, looking around the girls, said:
- I'm Piripiri.
As soon as he uttered his name, he rushed forward and, breaking the circle of girls, jumped into the water, dragging along three girlfriends, whose dresses were tangled in the line of his fishing rod. And the girls shouted from the shore:
– Don’t disappear, Piripiri, we liked you so much!
They waited for him to surface, but the river surface remained calm. Piripiri never showed up.
And from the girl who touched his shoulder, a pleasant aroma soon began to spread. This aroma mixed with the wind, and the wind brought it to the village.
And Piripiri, having spent some time under water, nevertheless appeared on the surface. He helped the girls get ashore and, leaving them, said:
– Don’t be crazy about me: my mother doesn’t want me to get married while I drink her milk.
Then one of those girls asked:
-Where does your mother live? We want to hug her, we want to tell her: “You are a happy woman, but who gave birth to such a son in you, beautiful as the Sun, fragrant like a flower?”
And Piripiri answered:
– I can’t tell you anything, because it’s a secret. The day will come when the sun will darken in the sky and the water will become white as milk - then people will know who I am. Now go to your village, but don’t tell people that it was I who made you so fragrant.
At that moment, Piripiri's body was enveloped in clouds of smoke and hidden from the women. When Piripiri disappeared, they screamed like crazy:
– Don’t run away from us, Piripiri! With these shouts they moved towards the village. Along the way they asked those they met:
-Have you seen Piripiri?
And everyone answered them:
“We don’t know who Piripiri is.” Then the girls explained:
– Piripiri is a young man, as beautiful as the Sun and fragrant as a flower.
Meanwhile, in the village, the men also smelled this pleasant smell. They said:
“It looks like we are inhaling the scent of the umirizeiro flower.”
Arriving at the village, the girls immediately told what had happened to them. And the young men completely lost their minds as soon as they found themselves next to girls who emanated the extraordinary aroma of Piripiri.
The women who did not exude fragrance began to envy them and decided: “Let's unite in search of Piripiri. He must make us all fragrant if life is dear to him. Let us spread across the earth and the sky, let us penetrate into the depths of the river and the darkness of the night to find him.”
So they did.
Several lunar months passed, and one of the girls who was watching the cave saw Piripiri heading towards her. She immediately lay down on the ground, and Piripiri did not notice her. He whistled loudly, and then a deer came out to meet him from the cave next to which the girl was hiding. Before the girl's eyes, Piripiri turned into a fawn and, entering the cave, began to suckle the deer. By evening, the fawn and its mother took on human form and headed deeper into the cave. When the girl could no longer distinguish their silhouettes, she went to the village, where she told about what she had seen.
The girls now knew where they could catch Piripiri and agreed to go there the next day. At dawn, they painted themselves with the seeds of the uruku plant to express their amorous longing and went to the cave. Having arrived, the girls hid at the entrance. As soon as it got dark they saw Piripiri. He walked, humming merrily, and the melody of his song echoed throughout the gorge. Suddenly the girls noticed a deer running out of the cave towards Piripiri.
Approaching him, she jumped high, turning into a hawk, and, grabbing Piripiri, flew with him, cutting through the air, to the other side of the river.
Seeing Piripiri's mother carrying him away, the girls threw themselves on the ground and began to cry. They heard the melody of his song gradually fade away. Now Piripiri and her mother were on the opposite bank, and the girls had to return back with nothing. Then they remembered that a famous sorcerer lived in the village, they immediately looked for him and asked:
- Dear grandfather, make Piripiri care about us, because only you can deprive people of peace.
The sorcerer answered them:
“I don’t know who he is, this Piripiri, so I can’t make him care about you.” Then the girls said:
– Piripiri is a young man, as beautiful as the Sun and fragrant as a flower.
-Where is he, this Piripiri?
- Now he is on the other side of the river. His mother took him with her yesterday.
-Who is his mother?
- She is either a deer or a hawk. Hearing this, the sorcerer fell into silence. Then he looked at the sun and said:
- Tell me where Piripiri lives, I want to remove the spell from him to disenchant him.
– He lives in a cave that is located at the foot of the mountain range.
- OK then. It really smells bad in here. I will leave what removes the magic spell and attracts the deer and her son. Just show me this cave and you can catch Piripiri today.
The girls immediately led the sorcerer to the Piripiri cave. Soon the sorcerer found a deer hair there and said:
“Now that I have a hair, its owner will appear.”
He rubbed a hair on the scales of the stingray, dipped it in beeswax and said the following:
“The owner of this hair should appear here before midnight today.”
The sorcerer returned to the village, and the girls remained to wait for Piripiri to appear. They agreed that Piripiri would be captured by the youngest, those who had not yet been touched by the month, while the rest would catch his mother. Around midnight, when the moon came out, they saw two figures at the entrance to the cave. Having let them closer, the girls tried to grab them, but they disappeared. There was just a whiff of the aroma of Piripiri. An inexplicable fear gripped the girls.
Then they noticed a mother deer with a fawn not far from the cave. As they approached, the girls began to surround them, thinking that it was Piripiri with his mother. Suddenly one of the girls said:
- No, this is not Piripiri and his mother, they stink of garlic, like a cobra. Let them go!
And the doe and her fawn went their way. Piripiri did not appear until dawn, and the girls returned to the village. Finding that sorcerer again, they told him:
-You deceived us. Piripiri never showed up. Only a doe and a fawn passed by, but they smelled like cobras.
And the sorcerer replied:
- So did I deceive you? You yourself say that a mother deer came there with her son. Was it not my charms that brought them to you? If you still want to disenchant Piripiri, then contact my son Supi, I am already too old.
Then the girls asked:
– Do you know where your son Supi lives?
- I know.
- Why is he avoiding us?
- Soupy avoids you because he is afraid that you will harm him. I want to heal him from everything earthly, then he can replace me. And you, what did you do with him? You all demanded his love, he sensed your unkind thoughts and disappeared.
- And where is he now?
– At the top of the Serra de Arubane.
- How can we talk to him?
“I’ll find him myself.” But I warn you: neither of you should show him your love, otherwise you will lose him.
And the girls promised:
- We will do everything as you order. Then the sorcerer said:
- Wait for me here. I'll go get Soupy.
He left, and the girls began to feel sorry for themselves:
- Well, how unfortunate we are! We cannot love Supi, the most beautiful young man in our lands! The passion of a woman will bring him grief: after all, if he falls in love with one of us, his father will go blind. Poor Supi, we are unhappy, unhappy! And now Piripiri! How beautiful is his look, how joyful is his song! And he's running away from us! He's afraid of us too. Let him stay! Supi will give him to us, and then we will win his heart.
As the sun was setting, they saw Soupy and his father descending towards them from the Serra de Arubane. The girls were happy that they would be able to see Supi and with his help catch Piripiri. Only Supi approached them. He said:
- My father sent me to you. Tell me quickly what you want, because I’m in a hurry to get back. The girls replied:
- Supi, we want you to give us Piripiri. We liked Piripiri so much, but he disappeared...
- Oh, so it turns out you need Piripiri?
- It’s him!
- Well, well... Today at midnight Piripiri and her mother will come to spend the night in the cave; they must wake up at dawn in order to cross to the other side of the river. When the night bird murukututu sings in the evening silence, I will begin to fumigate the cave so that Piripiri and her mother will sleep soundly, and you can catch them. Well, now you know what to do, and I can leave. Meet me at the cave.
With these words, Supi disappeared in the direction of the Serra de Arubane. The girls prepared to follow him. Anyone who heard their conversations would know how Piripiri would fall into their hands.
At midnight the girls were at the cave. There they met Soupy. His gaze was fixed on the moon. As night fell, they heard a familiar chant. This tune made the girls happy. But suddenly the song died down. Two human figures entered the cave. Soupy did not move, the girls did not breathe. Then they saw the flame of a fire and Piripiri and his mother appeared in front of it, sleeping on the moss. A pleasant smell emanated from their bodies. When Soupy realized that they had fallen asleep, he turned to the girls and said: “Well, here's Piripiri with his mother!” And disappeared.
Left alone, the girls quietly approached the sleeping people. And they saw that Piripiri’s mother was as beautiful as he was. Then the youngest girls, who had not yet been touched by the month, attacked Piripiri, others grabbed his mother and tied them both up. Piripiri opened his eyes slightly, looked around at the girls and, grinning to himself, closed them again. When Mother Piripiri felt that people were tying her up, she tried to sit up and became indignant: “Who are you that you dare to bother us? What do you want from me and my son? You are like annoying flies that pester everyone.” The girls thought that Piripiri was sleeping, tightly tied, and he suddenly said:
– Mom, I dreamed that a cloud of flies attacked me and dragged me somewhere. And I seemed to wave my hands and shake them off.
At that moment when Piriniri said: “I seemed to wave my arms,” he actually straightened his shoulders, shook his arms, and the rope that tied him broke.
The girls wanted to tie Piripiri again, but when they saw his smooth body, they froze. The aroma of Piripiri intoxicated them. And his mother said:
“Remember, my son: if you allow even one of them to touch your body, you will die!” The touch of a woman who shares your bed will bring you misfortune! Run quickly from these flies, take refuge in heaven!
Hearing what Piripiri’s mother said, the girls were indignant:
- Evil spirits! Just yesterday we saw how you turned into a female deer, and now you are worried that your son will turn one of us into a woman!
Then Piripiri got angry and said:
- So why are you pestering the deer’s son? Leave me alone! Don't bother me anymore!
These words upset the girls, and they fell silent. Suddenly a voice rang out in the silence:
- Piripiri, gather your courage and run away from these crazy people. The day will come when you will become as cheerful as a bird, and you will have a wife as beautiful as yourself. Now - run!
The girls turned in the direction from which these words were heard. Taking a closer look, they saw a huge hedgehog hiding behind one of the growths on the tree trunk, and they said to him:
- Are you talking about us? Well, wait a minute! When Piripiri is caught, we will deal with you too!
Having threatened the hedgehog, the girls turned to Piripiri, but he disappeared, leaving a whetstone in the hands of some, and a piece of cotton wool in the hands of those who wanted to grab his mother.
The girls got scared, ran up to the hedgehog and shouted:
- Oh, it was you, damned deceiver, who helped them escape! Well, you will pay for your machinations with us!
And just as they were about to grab the hedgehog, it turned into a white bat and flew away, quietly laughing at them. The girls were simply speechless, frozen in a daze.
When they came to their senses, they left the cave and went in search of Supi. They told him what happened, everything in order. Supi listened to them carefully and then said:
– See how many stupid things you have done in just a few hours! If you were smarter, Piripiri would have been in your hands long ago! After all, as soon as one of you touched his body with your hair, he would immediately lose his mind! And now he treats you with distrust, and it will be very difficult to deceive him. We'll have to wait for the new moon.
The girls listened to him silently, without taking their eyes off Supi. Their eyes sparkled. Suddenly the most beautiful of the girls, named Pure, asked:
- Answer us, Supi, why are you hiding from us like a wild animal? Who else can love you the way we love you - with all our hearts? You mock us and go to the mountains, laughing at our misfortune. You see how much effort we spend to win the love of Piripiri, but you yourself could console us.
Supi listened in silence to what Pure was saying. When she finished, he said:
-You're right, Pure. But your words don’t touch me, because my heart is far from here. If I love you, it will bring grief to my father: he will immediately go blind, and so will I. That's why I'm hiding in the mountains. My soul belongs to the stars, it flies in gusts of wind. Now in front of you is only my shell. And now that you have learned my secret, stop coveting my love!
With these words he disappeared. Everything around fell into deep silence.
Only from the shore, where Piripiri usually fished, could a cheerful chant be heard, breaking the silence of the night.
Several days passed, and around midnight, when the moon appeared, Supi appeared before the girls and said:
- In the dead of night, when the moon illuminates the sky, you should all be on the shore. Listen carefully: I will appear there with Piripiri. Stay low and don't make any noise, otherwise he will suspect something is wrong. Let each of you have a long strand of hair in your hands so that you can catch the Piripiri.
When the moon was very high, the girls went to the river. Soupy was already there and fishing. Soon the fish flashed on the hook, Soupy pulled it out and buried it in the sand, then sat down next to it. And slowly this fish began to turn into a man. When the moon illuminated the face of this young man, it turned out that he was Piripiri. The girls silently approached, and approaching Piripiri, they tied their long hair around him. Piripiri did not move. His gaze was directed upward, and he sang. This cheerful tune gradually died away in the distance.
Then the girls said to Soupy:
– We tied Piripiri. But he doesn't feel anything. He sings to himself and that’s it.
S ni replied:
- That's how it should be. When Piripiri sings, his soul belongs to the stars. Therefore, do not touch him while singing, otherwise his soul will become agitated, leave the body and finally move to heaven. But when he finishes singing, you can take him home.
After explaining to the girls what to do, Supi went to the village. He chuckled all the way.
A woman is by nature impatient, and therefore the girls soon began to call Piripiri.
And Pure said:
“My friends, it seems to me that Supi told us lies about Piripiri.” He is deceiving us. So I want to wake up Piripiri so I can talk to him.
And Pure touched Piripiri's shoulder to say something in his ear. Piripiri immediately fell silent. The moon darkened and a cold wind blew sharply. The girls did not even notice how sleep overtook them. They woke up when the moon had already disappeared from the sky. And they began to look for Piripiri. But in the place where he stood, they found only some kind of plant. When the sun illuminated everything around, Pure said:
“My friends, Supi is mocking us: instead of Piripiri, he left us this plant.” Let's go to him and tell him that it is not good to mock our misfortune like that. Having found Supi, they shouted:
- Well, Soupy, did you manage to deceive us again? Why did you snatch Piripiri from our hands! Why did a plant appear in the place where he stood? Ah, Supi, you mock our grief! Look: we're crying! Give us back Piripiri so that our hearts can be comforted!
Then Soupy asked the girls:
-What did you do with Piripiri? Why did he suddenly disappear?
Pure answered him:
“You saw him standing there, humming.” When it began to dawn, I wanted to take Piripiri to the village. So I decided to quietly tell him about it. I accidentally touched his shoulder. He immediately fell silent. And then someone suddenly put us all to sleep. When we woke up, Piripiri was no longer there. Only in the place where he stood did a tree grow, as fragrant as he himself.
Then Supi became sad:
- Poor Piripiri, unfortunate! Your time to love has not yet come. The hand of a woman has destroyed you. Now he is there, in the sky, somewhere among the Three Marys of the Orion constellation. And he laughs at us!
Pure heard Supi talking to himself and interrupted him:
- So, Soupy, he won’t come back again?
- Yes, Piripiri will not return again. Now he lives on one of the most beautiful stars. There are also beautiful girls there who will want to marry him.
Then Pure, feeling that her strength was leaving her, began to sob, and the others began to cry after her. Supi went down to the river, sat down next to the plant that grew in the place where Piripiri stood, and said:
“There is nothing left of the man named Piripiri.” In memory of him, this plant grew, as fragrant as he himself. I know, Piripiri, that you are laughing at us, the people of this land. Today my heart is restless. After all, it was I, Supi, who directed the girls’ actions. And all in order to get rid of their crazy passion.
Supi had not yet finished speaking, and the girls were already next to him, Pure asked:
– What should we do with this plant now? And Soupy replied:
“After all, it was Piripiri who turned into a plant that smells like himself.” If a woman wants to become cheerful, slim and fragrant like Piripiri, let her wash her body with an infusion of piripirio leaves and roots.
Hearing what Supi said, the girls immediately began to pick off the leaves of the plant. Only Pure, who was talking with Supi, got nothing.
Soupy also pulled out a shoot, intending to plant it next to the plant.
Since Pure was left empty-handed, she turned to Supi again:
- Listen to me, Supi! Only I didn’t get any piripirioki. I don’t want to become a laughing stock in the eyes of others: you will plant a plant for me!
And she rushed to hug Soupy. At that moment, Supi disappeared, and Pure fell into the arms of a huge toad, which appeared in his place.
Supi ran towards the village. The girls also followed him.
At dawn the next day they all returned from the river, slender, fragrant and cheerful. The men asked them:
-What happened to you today? You are all so beautiful, fragrant and cheerful! And the girls answered:
– We bathed in the infusion of piripirioki.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru