What to tell, what not to talk about? Once upon a time in Khun-zakh there lived a poor old woman with her only son. They had nothing on the farm except a red bull, which they loved very much and fed plenty of fresh grass and hay. He soon grew into a handsome and gentle bull. One day the son said:
- Oh mother! Let’s sell our red bull and buy two with the proceeds. After all, you can’t get by with just one bull on a farm.
“Okay,” the mother agreed, “go and sell it, but under no circumstances deal with the kusa.”
No sooner said than done. The son took the bull to a large village and began shouting: “I’m selling the bull! I’m selling a bull!” Kusa came running to the cry, but the son flatly refused to sell him the bull. On the next street there was a kusa again, which began to impose itself on customers. Again the young Khunzakh resident refused him and moved on. After some time, he met Kusa again.
- Wah! - exclaimed the young man. - Apparently, in this village every resident is a kusa.
This time he succumbed to the annoying requests of Kusa and decided to sell him the bull. Kusa led the guy into the yard and loudly said to his wife:
“I buy a bull for three tumans, but if he had a broken leg, I would pay all eight.”
The guy heard this, grabbed an ax, broke the bull's leg and began to demand eight tomans. And Kusa had a good laugh and offered only half a fog. The Khunzakh resident realized that Kusa had cruelly deceived him and began to cry. But tears won’t help my grief! The guy had to take half the fog and leave quickly before the aul wits made him laugh. But the desire to take revenge on the insidious enemy burned the poor fellow’s heart like fire -
dry corn stalk. Not far from the village, a Khunzakh resident saw an old, shabby donkey, which the owners had kicked out of the house.
- What a find! - the young man exclaimed and drove the donkey towards the cousa. Before reaching his house, he hid the silver under the donkey’s tail and began shouting loudly: “I’m selling a donkey, I’m selling a donkey!”
Kusa came out to the shout and asked about the price.
“One hundred fogs,” came the calm answer.
“He’s gone crazy, this Avar,” shouted Kusa. “Where has it been seen that they ask for so much money for such a donkey?”
- He is not simple. Before you can say “bismillah”, his owner will make a lot of money. After all, he spews out pure silver, I stole it from the Turkish Sultan himself and now I am hiding from pursuit.
With these words, the Khunzakh man hit the donkey on the back, and half a mist of silver poured out of it.
Kusa's eyes widened, and he ordered his wife to immediately take out a hundred tomans.
“If you want to get many times more, then hang the donkey by the throat from the ceiling,” the Khunzakh man advised in parting and left.
It is known that the greedy want to get rich quickly, and Kusa hung a donkey from the ceiling. Two days later, Kusa found a dead donkey and realized that he had been deceived.
Kusa called his relatives and neighbors, and everyone rushed in pursuit. But the Khunzakh man foresaw everything and said to his mother:
“Mother, soon a whole gang led by the Kusa will come here.” Despite my persuasion, do not cook food for them. Then I will pierce a bull's blood bladder, which we will tie to your neck in advance, and you will pretend to be dead. And when the zurna starts playing, you get up. The rest is my business.
Soon a whole crowd appeared, led by a kusa with drawn daggers, began to threaten and demand the money back.
- O dear Goeti! - exclaimed the Khunzakh citizen. - What a conversation about money there can be! For now, take your seats and be assholes. I will treat you to an excellent dinner, and you will receive the money in full. And you, mother, start cooking.
The old woman began to refuse and started a quarrel with her son.
- Oh, you worthless one! How dare you violate the sacred laws of hospitality! - the son shouted and pierced the bull's bladder, and the mother fell to the floor and froze.
- What have you done, unfortunate thing! - Kusa shouted. “How dare you raise your hand against your poor mother?”
“I often do such tricks with it,” answered the Khunzakh man. “I just need to play this zurna, and any dead person immediately comes to life.”
Kusa did not believe these words, but the son began to play the zurna, and the mother immediately jumped to her feet.
- Wah! - exclaimed Kusa. “This zurna has no price.” Sell it to us, and we will give you all our money and forgive the old debt.
The Khunzakh resident did not give in to persuasion for a long time, but in the end he gave in.
Satisfied, Kusa returned home and began to look for a reason to quarrel with his wife. A few minutes later they were already arguing.
- Look at this scoundrel who dares to contradict her husband! - Kusa shouted and plunged a dagger into his wife’s throat. Soon she died. Relatives came running in response to the scream and attacked the killer...
“Don’t worry, she’ll get up now,” the kusa said importantly and played the zurna. But no matter how much he blew into the zurna, his wife did not even move.
Kusa realized that he had been deceived, and again rushed to Khunzakh. Meanwhile, the son told his mother to spread a rumor about his death. He himself dug a grave, placed a brazier and a spear there and began to wait for the bite.
Kusa learned of the death of the offender and rushed to the cemetery to desecrate his grave.
- I won’t leave you dead! - Kusa shouted. He began to trample the grave, but fell inside, ran into a red-hot spear and died.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru