Once upon a time there lived a poor shepherd Bikray, who for a long time did not have children. In his old age he had a son, they named him Saran. Saran soon grew up and began to tend the flock. Not far from the pasture there was a high black mountain covered with grass and dense forest. Shepherd Bikray never drove his flock there, since he knew that seven brothers - devas - lived there; Therefore, before his death, he strictly bequeathed to his son never to drive herds to this mountain.
But soon after his father’s death, Saran forgot his will and one fine day drove the cattle there. Contrary to his father's behest, he did not see the devas. He really liked the place, and the next day he again went with his herd to the black mountain. This time, in the depths of the forest, he saw a beautiful house with an iron gate, which he smashed into pieces with one blow, and went into the yard. Here he saw the youngest of the seven devas looking after the house and preparing food for his brothers.
Dev, noticing Saran, became angry with great anger and rushed at him. But Saran, thanks to his strength and dexterity, defeated him, then went into the house, where a magnificent dinner was prepared. After lunch, he filled his shepherd's bag with food for his mother and calmly returned home with the herd.
Without saying anything to anyone, every day he drove the herd to the black mountain and soon defeated all seven devas; He buried six of them in a deep hole, and threw the seventh, the eldest deva, into a nearby abyss. Having destroyed all the devas, Saran did not graze the flock and moved with his mother to the black mountain.
The devas had a lot of goods, and Saran did not need anything. Every day he went hunting, caught birds and animals, and caught fish. One day, when Saran was hunting, his mother came to the edge of the abyss and, hearing the groans of the deva, decided to help him. Every day she brought good food to the dev, but did not say anything to her son about it. After some time, the dev recovered, got out of the abyss and became the husband of Saran's mother.
A little time passed, and Saran’s mother told him that he would soon have an assistant - a younger brother. Soon, Saran's mother gave birth to a boy, who was named Michakh. The son of the deva grew not by years, but by days; at the age of seven he already began to go hunting with Saran.
One day Michakh stayed at home and accidentally overheard his mother talking to the dev. He learned that his father, a deva, on the advice of his mother, would turn into a snake and hide at the bottom of the door to sting Saran to death when he returned home.
In the evening, Michakh went out to meet his brother and, not far from the house, began to demand that he sit on his back and so enter the house, otherwise they would both be threatened with misfortune. Saran, not knowing what was the matter, at first refused, but then was forced to give in to his brother’s requests; he sat on seven-year-old Michakh and got into the house.
Dev could not sting his own son and therefore could not sting Saran.
Another time, Michah learned that his father would turn into a poisonous scorpion and hide at the top of the door to bite Saran on the head. Having learned about this, Michakh, before his brother arrived, came out to meet him and began to ask him to take him on his back and go into the house, since now trouble was threatening from above. Tired Saran at first refused, but then gave in to Michakh, took him on his back and entered the house. Dev could not bite Saran this time either.
Saran, surprised by the actions of his brother Michach, asked him about the reason for them; then Michakh revealed the whole secret to him, saying that the deva became the husband of their mother. This deva, having turned once into a snake, and another time into a scorpion, wanted to destroy Saran, but he, Michakh, taking him on his back, saved him from a bite on the heel, and sitting on him, from a bite on the head.
Hearing Michach's story, Saran immediately drove away the deva, his mother, and the brothers began to live together. But soon they were tired of life without a mistress in the house, and Michakh advised Saran, as an older brother, to find himself a bride.
When Saran got ready to set off, Michakh pointed out to him two heavenly bodies and said that the big one belonged to Saran, and the little one belonged to him, and if one of them was covered by clouds, they should hasten to help each other. After listening to his brother, Saran went to distant lands. He wandered for many years, but nowhere did he find a wife after his heart.
But on one mountain he noticed a flock of sheep and headed there; As he approached, he saw that the sheep, the shepherd, and the dogs were all turned into stones and standing motionless. Saran was surprised and moved on, but soon his eyes saw a whole petrified state, in which people, animals, birds, buildings, trees, grass and flowers - all turned into stones. He headed to the royal city, went into the palace, but here, too, everything seemed petrified: the king stood, surrounded by dignitaries, but they were made of stone - in a word, Saran did not meet anything living anywhere.
He left the city and sat down to rest on the mountain. Suddenly he noticed smoke coming from a house on the edge of the city. Saran went there to find out why everyone was petrified in this state. He entered the house from which smoke was coming out, and saw a beauty, on whose lap, with his head resting, a disgusting deva was resting.
The beauty, seeing Saran, took pity on him and asked him to leave quickly, otherwise the deva would wake up and turn him into stone. But Saran replied that he would not go anywhere until he killed the deva and took her as his wife.
For a long time the beauty begged Saran to leave, but he didn’t want to hear about it. He woke up the deva and threateningly demanded that the beauty be given to him. It was difficult for the deva to endure such an insult from an ordinary person, of whom he destroyed a great many. Heated, with eyes sparkling with lightning, with millstones and a fiery sword, he rushed at Saran, who, except for a bow and a shepherd’s club, had nothing in his hands. He threw a stone at Saran, but Saran jumped so high that the stone flew past and did not harm him.
It's Saran's turn. He shot the arrow with such force that it knocked down the deva, who immediately felt that he was losing his last strength: bleeding, he asked to stop fighting until the next day; Saran also agreed to this.
The next day they began to fight, and the deva realized that he could not defeat Saran by force. He gathered all his remaining strength and blew on Saran so much that in an instant he turned into stone.
The heavenly body of Saran immediately darkened, and his brother Michach, noticing this, hurried to his aid. For a long time he walked along the road along which Saran had wandered, and finally arrived at the capital of the petrified kingdom. Having not met either people or living beings here anywhere, he went to the last outermost house, where he saw a deva, a lovely beauty and his brother, turned into stone. He immediately demanded that the deva turn his petrified brother into a man, and when the deva refused, he began to fight with him.
This struggle continued for three days, neither of them could defeat the other; then the deva decided to turn Michakh into stone, blew his breath on him, but could not do anything with him - after all, Michakh was of deva origin. Then Michakh gathered his last strength, threw the deva to the ground and with his sword cut off two of his heads, and left one;
then he took him by the long ears and ordered him to first turn Saran into a man. When Saran came to life, Michach took the deva out of the house and ordered him to revive everything that had been turned to stone. What could the deva do? He had to fulfill Michach’s demand.
Soon the city and the whole kingdom came to life: people began to walk and talk, birds began to sing, trees and flowers bloomed, horses neighed, cows mooed, sheep bleated, nature came to life, and life flowed in its own order.
When Michakh was convinced that everything was restored to its previous form, then he cut off the last head of the deva. The brothers began to live in the house of the deva with the beauty whom Saran married.
The king soon learned that it was Michakh who saved his Kingdom from the machinations of the evil deva, called him to himself and, as a sign of gratitude, gave him his beautiful youngest daughter in marriage, and celebrated a seven-day wedding for both brothers.
Soon after the wedding, Michakh and Saran, with enormous wealth and beautiful wives, returned to their home, where they began to live and have children.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru