In ancient times, they say, on the Lupye River, which flows into the Kama, lived an unprecedented strongman named Perya. He lived by hunting, hunting with a bow and arrow. He beat a bird with a bow, and went at a large animal with a spear. He sees the trail of an elk, deer or bear and runs along the trail. He quickly catches up and pierces with a spear. He had a hut in the forest, but Perya didn’t like to sleep in it: it was stuffy. Both summer and winter I slept near the hut in the open air around the fire.
People respected Perya the hero and loved him.
At that time, many goblin lived in our forests. There were different types of goblin. Near one village, a very fierce goblin appeared, annoyed everyone in the village, did not allow them to hunt, and stole livestock. People pleased him this way and that, treated him. They will bake a pie with fish, boil chicken eggs, take it all into the forest, put it on a tree stump, and shout:
- Eat, vorsa (goblin), help yourself, just don’t touch us!
They even slaughtered dogs for him. Leshy are very fond of dog meat. So this goblin ate all the gifts, but did not let up and continued to harm people. What to do? They decided to call Perya the hero for help. They told about the devil's tricks. Perya got angry, took his weapon, got on his skis and went into the forest where the goblin ruled. I started looking for his path. In the evening I found it, lit a fire, and sat down. Hunters pass by and say:
-Where are you sitting? After all, this is the path of the devil. He doesn’t forgive anyone for this and won’t let you off the hook.
“That’s exactly what I need,” Perya grins.
By nightfall, a goblin came - huge, his head taller than the forest.
“Why did you come on my path, you pathetic man?” Maybe you want to test your strength?
Perya stood up to his full enormous height.
- Yes, I want to measure myself.
The goblin saw what a hero was in front of him, and decided to defeat Perya by cunning.
“Come on,” he says, “let’s go to bed now, and in the morning we’ll measure our strength.”
“Well, go ahead,” Perya agrees.
They cut down two pine trees and made a nodya (fire) for the night. The goblin lay down on one side of the node, Perya on the other.
- How do you sleep? - asks the goblin.
“I sleep silently and motionless, like a log,” says Perya. - How do you sleep?
“And when I sleep, I snore so much that the pine needles above me fall off and sparks fly from my nose,” answers the goblin.
Perya fell silent. Soon the goblin began snoring so much that pine needles fell down. Perya stood up and looked at him across the fire. That's right: sparks fly from the devil's nose. So he's sleeping. Perya put a thick log in its place and covered it with his clothes, and he hid behind a mighty pine tree. At midnight the goblin woke up, stood up, looked over the fire and said:
“He really sleeps like a log.”
The goblin took his spear and put the tip into the fire, and when it became red-hot, he grabbed the spear, jumped over the fire and thrust the spear into a log covered with clothes. With difficulty the spear hit the damp log, and the goblin leaned on it with his whole chest.
- Oh, and you were a strong hero! - he said. “But the end has come for you too.”
Then Perya came out from behind the pine tree and pulled his tight bow.
- Stop, villain of the pile! You wanted to kill me while I was sleeping, to pierce me with a red-hot spear, and for this you will have no mercy!
What should a devil do? The spear got stuck in a log. Stands unarmed.
“Spare me,” he says. “I won’t harm people anymore.”
“I don’t believe you,” Perya answers. “You have now shown what you are, you have shown your black soul.”
Perya shot an arrow into the goblin's chest. Killed the villain. He came to the village and told the people:
- Now you can live in peace, without fear, to forest (hunt).
And another time, messengers from the prince himself came to Pere. A steppe horde attacked the princely city, the princely army is beating, there is no strength to resist. The enemy hero rides in a huge iron wheel, crushes the princely warriors, and there is no one to fight that hero. Come, they say, Perya the hero, stand up to defend our land.
Perya agreed. Messengers say:
“We’ll take you to the battle site in two weeks.”
“No need,” says Perya. “I can get there on foot in two days.”
Perya got on his skis. He arrived at the battlefield in two days and saw that there was a battle going on - the enemy hero was riding in a huge iron wheel and crushing people with it. Perya grabbed the wheel with both hands, lifted it and slammed it to the ground. Neither the hero nor the wheel were left. The enemy army saw the victory of our hero and ran back.
The prince invited Perya to his place for a great feast. They feasted for three days. Perya is getting ready to go home. The prince asks:
- What, Perya, did you like sleeping in the prince’s chambers?
“No,” the hero answers, “I didn’t like it.” Your chambers are stuffy and full of fleas, but I’m used to sleeping in the forest near Nodya, in freedom.
“You defeated the enemy,” says the prince, “ask for what you want for your service.”
“I don’t need anything,” says Perya. “I just need one thing: to live freely and grow forests in my native places along the Lupye River.
The prince gave Pera a certificate of ownership of those forests, and also gave him a silk net to catch martens.
Perya returned home and lived as before, peacefully and calmly. He logged on his vast estates, no one bothered him.
This is what our Perya the hero was like.
Everyone here knows Perya, everyone talks about him, everyone loves him.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru