Among Karata Khan's servants were the woodcarver Ananda and the painter Onanda. Khan valued and praised the carver Ananda, but he often scolded the painter Onanda - this is not so, this is not so.
The painter Onanda was envious and planned to kill the skilled carver from the world. He wrote a letter to the khan on behalf of his long-dead father. He came to Karaty Khan with this letter and said:
“Here, Khan, a piece of silk with some kind of writing fell from the sky, but I don’t understand what they mean.”
Khan called the carver Ananda and ordered him to read aloud. He fulfilled the will of the khan and read the following words:
“My son, Karaty Khan Jr.! In heaven I was reborn as a god. I'm building a big monastery. To decorate it, send me the carver Ananda riding on the smoke. Karaty Khan the Elder.”
The khan was delighted that his father had become a god in heaven, and although he was sorry to part with the skilled carver, he still began to hurry him:
- Get ready for a long journey, Ananda. Serve my father as well as you serve me. Tomorrow we will light a big fire, and on its smoke you will rise to the upper world to my father.
Ananda guessed that his enemy the painter Onanda had written this letter. He thought and said to the khan:
- Since the khan orders, the common man must obey. Please show me the place from where I will set off and give me nine days to get ready. The tool needs to be prepared.
The khan agreed, indicated the place where the fire would be built, and released the carver. And he, without wasting time, at night, secretly began to dig an underground passage from his yurt to the place where the khan decided to burn it. On the ninth day the hole was ready. Ananda blocked the exit from it with a flat stone and grass. After that, he came to the khan with a knapsack and declared that he was ready to appear riding on the smoke before Karaty Khan the Elder. The Khan ordered the carver to stand at the place he had indicated, and his servants to surround it with firewood and brushwood. Of all the servants, the painter Onanda made the most effort. He, sweating, dragged heavy logs to the fire.
“Look,” Onanda says, chuckling, to the carver, “how I’m trying for you.” I want the smoke to be thicker. It will be more convenient for you to saddle him.
Ananda remained silent, but thought: “Laugh, laugh, you evil man. The time will come when I will laugh."
A fire broke out. Ananda waited a little and, when the smoke hid him from the eyes of those gathered, he opened the hole and began to go down. Already underground he heard Onanda’s enthusiastic cries: “Here he is, Ananda! Here he is flying! Look up!
For eight days Ananda sat in his yurt, not showing himself to anyone. On the ninth day he came to the khan, handed him a letter and said:
“I returned from Karata Khan the elder. He sent you a letter.
Karaty Khan marveled, turned the paper over in his hands and returned it to Ananda again:
- Read! Ananda began to read:
“My son, Karaty Khan Jr.! Your carver Ananda did a good job. Reward him. The monastery became beautiful. Now you need to paint. Send me the painter Onanda riding on the smoke as soon as possible. Karaty Khan the Elder.”
Khan Onanda called. And when he saw the living, unharmed carver, he took off running. The khan's servants caught him with difficulty.
“Read it again, Ananda,” ordered the Khan. Ananda read the letter he himself had written again. Onanda began to cry, fell to his knees in front of the khan, and asked to give him nine days to get ready.
- No, my father’s will is sacred to me. Since he demands that you urgently come to him, you must obey.
The khan went out into the steppe and ordered his servants to surround Onanda with firewood and brushwood. Ananda also brought a large log. He threw it and shouted to the painter:
- Look, Onanda, how hard I try for you! The smoke will be thick, and you will easily ride it. You will know how to dig a hole for others.
They lit a fire. Onanda jumped out of the fire screaming, but the carver caught him and threw him into the fire with the words:
“If a man returns halfway, he will be reborn into a hornless black bull, on which he carries firewood.”
It’s not for nothing that people say: “Don’t dig a hole for someone else, you’ll fall into it yourself.”
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru