The Ulchi have lived on the Amur for a long time. Since they came here, small hills have become big, big rivers have become small.
Three clans of Ulchi - Sulaki, Zorincha, Senkincha - were relatives, they had one fire. They lived next to each other: their villages stood in a row on the banks of the Amur.
The Ulchi lived together. The whole village erected houses: some kneaded clay, some cut down pillars, some carried poles onto the roof. The whole village was catching fish: some on a big boat, some on a fishnet, some sitting on a log, chasing fish into nets. They lived on friendly terms with the forest people and the water people: the Ulchi always had seals, taimen, chum salmon, sable, and elk.
In the Sulaki family there was one boy named Mambu.
When he was born, his mother washed him with her milk for fifteen days. The father hung a hatchet and a knife on Mamba’s cradle so that the boy could get used to weapons:
As soon as Mamba saw the knife, he immediately grabbed onto it with both hands and crawled out of the cradle. Father and mother were surprised. Our hero will be Mambu or an unfortunate man! - we thought to ourselves. And Mambu left the house, threw a stone into the alder tree - he killed the hazel grouse. He hung a bird above the door so that everyone could see that a hunter was born in the house. Among good people he will be the best! - they said then about Mamba.
Sulaki hasn’t seen any bad people yet. Only soon did they meet bad people. In the fall, when the fish were in, Sulak filled barns full of fish, prepared yukola for the dogs, stocked up on sturgeon and chum salmon bellies for the whole winter, dried and dried the fish. We collected and stored lingonberries, strawberries, saran roots and blueberries.
One day the Sulakis look: a boat is sailing along the Amur. It’s big, the bow and stern are raised up.. We haven’t seen an Ulchi like this before. The sails on the boat are yellow. The golden dragon badge flutters on the mast. The breakers are playing under the boat. There are a lot of people sitting in the boat. In the hands of people are swords two palms wide, and in the hands of people are spears two times tall. People's foreheads are shaved, and behind them their braids hang to the floor, tied with dark braid. Old people say:
– We need to meet people in a good way! You can see strangers from afar! They must have a lot of news!
Mambu says:
- These are bad people. We need to leave them for the taiga. Why do they hold swords in their hands? Why did they point the spears?
The boat stopped near the village of Sulaki. People got out of the boat. The chief was carried out on a stretcher. Eight porters bend under its weight. On his head he has a hat with a peacock feather and a jasper ball. The robe on him shimmers with all the colors, like a rainbow. The newcomer’s belly is such that you can’t even see his face. Mamba looked at him and said:
- This is not a person, but a belly! I came to no good!
– What do you understand? - the old people say.
The Ulchi rushed to the visitors. The law orders the visitor to be warmed, fed, and given the best piece. Women carry fish, moose, and porridge on platters.
And the belly man, looking at the Ulchi, says:
- We are the people of the Nikan Tsar! Our king is the greatest king on earth, there is no one greater than our king in the whole world! He ordered to take tribute from you!
The Ulchi do not understand what tribute is. No one was ever paid tribute. They ask what it is. The Nikan belly man answers them:
- We will take from you a sable from each person. And it will be like this forever! The Nikan king promises to show mercy to you and favor you for this. It will allow you to catch fish in the river, kill animals in the forest and allow you to breathe air!
People were surprised. Women say:
- Apparently, these are poor people. Apparently they don’t have sables. Apparently, the Nikan king is cold. Let him warm himself with our sables!
And the Nikan people have already gone home. They went to all the houses, they climbed into all the barns, fortunately the Ulchi never had any locks - from whom should they lock it when they are all their own? Nikan warriors are prowling, dragging furs. They took a sable per person a long time ago, and all the furs - bear, sable, lynx, seal, fox, and weasel - are all carried into the boat. Eyes bulging, out of breath, two people clutching one skin.
Mamba says to the belly man:
- Honorable man! It’s been a long time since your people took what you call tribute, and everyone is pulling out our furs... Tell me, isn’t it time to stop?
The belly man began to stir. He pulled his head out. Looks at Mamba. Yes, with such eyes, like a snake Himu: his eyes burn with green fire, he would have eaten the boy:
“And the soldiers take the rest for me and for themselves because we brought you the favor of Nikan’s Majesty.” We were tired and exhausted on the road, it took a long time to get to you!
The old people see that from the mercy of the Nikan king they have lost all their goods, they shake their heads, and are offended by the Nikan people. Mambu says: “We must take everything away from them!” How will you select it?
Strangers dragged all the furs into the boat. The belly man sat on top of her. We pushed off the shore with hooks and swam back.
Here are your guests! They didn’t even look at the destruction, they just destroyed the barns. The women began to cry. The men began to swear. Mambu became completely angry. Not for us, not for them! - speaks. He went ashore. He began to whistle. Everyone knows that when you whistle near the water, the wind starts. Puffed out Mamba's cheeks. He took in so much air that he became round. He whistled for a long time. At first, a small wind came running to his whistle. The grass began to stir, the water on the river began to ripple, and the badge on the mast of the Nikan boat became streaked. And Mambu whistles. The middle wind flew in to help his younger brother. The leaves rustled on the branches and the branches began to sway. The lambs danced on the waves in the river. On the Nikan boat, the mast began to bend. And Mambu whistles. He sees the average wind - it also lacks strength. He called his older brother for help. A big wind came rushing in. The trees began to bend and break. On the Amur, the water has darkened, the waves have foamed, and are rising higher than the houses. The sails were torn off the Nikan boat, the mast was broken, the boat began to flood... And the wind was getting stronger and stronger! Capsized the boat. Nikan warriors fell into the water. Those with more weapons immediately sank to the bottom, those with fewer weapons floated on the waves. And the man-belly, like a bubble, sways on the wave, cannot drown - he is very fat! Everything that strangers took from Sulaka was lost in this storm and everything that was theirs was destroyed. We barely made it to the other side. They ran to the Manchurian Amban. Asks the one who took the Nikan king from Ulchi. The belly man says, squeezing water out of his robe:
- They took Amur water!
... And the wind is getting stronger and stronger. The houses of Ulchi began to shake. Poles began to be thrown from the roofs. The old people ask Mamba:
- Stop blowing!
And Mamba has already let out all the air. Already without him, the winds are blowing across the Amur. Mamba shouts to them:
- Enough!
The winds were blowing up, they couldn’t hear... Then Mamba grabbed his combat bow, pulled the bowstring from the sinew of the elk, cast an arrow from an iron birch, picked up a burning coal and shot into the great wind, and ran home. It became quiet. The waves have calmed down. The trees are standing straight again. Mambu says:
– Lynx always goes to one place to drink water! Nikan people will come here again. We need to leave this place! The belly man will keep coming until he devours us all...
The old people did not listen. They didn’t want to leave their homeland.
- How can you! - They say. – Our fathers are buried here!
Some time passed, and in the winter the same people again came to Sulaki. They arrived on big sledges. Terrible animals are harnessed to the sled: a head like a deer, hair on the tail, round hooves on four legs, hair on one side of the neck. There are twice as many people as before. And the belly man is with them.
They demand tribute again. We went to the barns again.
Mambo says to the belly man:
- No one has ever cut two branches from one place!
The belly man shouted at Mamba and stamped his feet. The warriors jumped up to Mambu and threw him aside.
Mambu went home. I got some bear fat. I cut it into pieces. He got close to the Nikan sledges and tied the lard to the sledges from below.
Again the Nikans near Sulaki cleaned out all the barns. Furs, all sorts of things and food were taken away. They sat down on the sledge. They shouted at their animals. The animals galloped. Only the runners creak and the snow drifts after the sledges. The women are crying again. Old people swear. Mambu tells them: “Give all the dogs here!”
They brought all the dogs that were in the village. He took Mamba, the strongest leader, a piece of bear fat, and poked his nose into someone else’s footprint. The leader sensed which way the fat had gone and rushed after the trail. The rest of the dogs follow him!
... The belly man rides on his sledge. He’s happy – he took a lot from the Ulcha! He doesn’t count how much he gives to the king, but how much he keeps for himself is silent about that.
The belly man and his people had already reached the middle of the Amur.
Here the dogs caught up with the strangers. It smells like bear lard. And where the fat is, the dogs won’t understand, and let’s talk to people! Half of them were bitten to death, those animals that were in the harness were bitten. The whole train was upset. The Nikans started to run, and the dogs were hanging on them, clinging to them. Somehow, already on the other bank, the belly man fought off the dogs. They ran to the Manchurian Amban. He asks how much tribute they took from the Ulchi. He thinks to himself what to send to the king, what to keep for himself. The belly man answers, pulling dog teeth out of his robe and body: “They took the dog teeth!”
The Amban was angry. He orders an army to be sent to Sulaki. He orders everyone to be exterminated...
A whole cloud of warriors went to the Ulchi. Unfortunately, Mambu was not in the village. He went to visit the taiga people and stayed late. I only came home in the summer.
He sees that all the Sulaks have been beaten, all the houses have been burned. Not a single living soul in the entire village. Only crows cawing and circling in the sky above the village. He sees Mamba - the Sulaks fought bravely, they beat many foreign soldiers, but they took up arms too late - and they all died.
The orphan Mambu began to cry.
There is nothing to do. It is necessary to pick up the bones of relatives - this is what the law says: one must avenge the murdered! For every one killed, an enemy must be killed! And you can't handle this alone...
Mambu went to Zorincha to ask for help. He approached the village, and there were already cold ashes: the Nikans burned down all the houses, took all Zorincha captive.
Mambu went to Senkincha to ask for help, to take revenge for two families. I approached the village. And there are empty houses there. All things were covered with dust by the wind. Only rats are running around the village. They left their native village, the Nikans were afraid. Where they went – who knows. They left no traces.
The orphan Mambu began to cry. How to take revenge on enemies? Mamba went to the river people to ask for help. Those people gathered. Listen to Mamba. The old Kaluga man tells him:
– Zorincha and Senkincha were good people! We'd be happy to help you. But we cannot live without water. How will we fight on land? We don’t know how to walk on earth!..
Mambu went to the taiga people. They gathered when they learned that a simple man had come to them to ask for help. The taiga people got angry and growled. The old bear man tells the orphan Mamba that the taiga people would be happy to avenge Sulaki, to avenge Zorincha - they were good people - but the taiga people cannot swim across the river...
Mambu went to the forest people. He bowed to the birch tree and said what trouble had happened to him. Speaks:
“You can swim across the river, and you can walk on dry land.” I ask you to help me! I can't take revenge alone.
The forest people agreed.
I took Mamba's axe. I cut a lot of birch. I sanded it and removed the bark from the birch tree. I cut birch into logs. I made the eyes on the blocks so they could see the road. The nose on the chocks was made so that they could smell the smoke on the robes of those who killed Sulaki and who took Zorincha away. He clapped his hand. The chocks moved their eyes, looking at Mamba, what would he say?
- Hey you tree people! - says Mambu. - Go to war! I alone cannot take revenge for everyone. Please! I ask you - go! Don’t leave any offenders alive!
Showed the way to the tree people. They splashed into the water and swam along the road where the Nikan people had come from.
Sat on the bank of the Mambu.
I didn’t eat or drink while I was waiting for the tree people...
And the tree people swam across the river. They galloped across the Nikan land. In that city, a man-belly with an amban sit in the palace, divide the rich booty, sit, boast about the shed blood. And their warriors are right there, dividing up the Ulchi things, quarreling over each skin. Suddenly glass flew out of the windows. Tree people burst into the windows and doors - and let’s knock on the offenders! Tree people are not afraid of swords. They don't listen to screams - there are no ears. You can't trip them up - they don't have legs. You won’t ask for mercy - they have no heart!
All the offenders were beaten by the tree people. The man-belly was hit so hard on both sides that all that was left was a greasy stain on the floor. Amban was given so many blows that for the rest of his life he could not recognize himself...
... Orphan Mamba sits and waits. It became black as the earth.
The tree people have returned. We climbed out onto the shore.
- They beat everyone! - They say. – What should we do next?
- Thank you! - Mambu answers.
He closed the eyes of the tree people and cut off their noses. They became like simple lumps again. Thalnik Mambu chopped. I tied the logs together with that waist and made a raft. He sat down on the raft. He pushed himself away from his native shore with his pole and cried:
“I’ll live here alone.” A person cannot live alone. I'll start looking for other people. I’ll forget my name, I’ll ask to join someone else’s family!
Mambu swam along the Amur.
He will float down the river as much as he can. He will float past the village and shout: Hey, people! Consider me yours! Give me a name! Take him into your family!
But the Mambu won’t swim for long.
Any village would take such a young man. Any old man will consider such a young man his son, just shout Mamba...
And nothing has been heard about Sulaki, Zorincha and Senkinch since then. Only in fairy tales do old people talk about them.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru