A raven rolled in the snow from a mountain over a cliff by the sea and sang:
A-ya-yali, a-ya-yali, a-ya-yali, Ko-o-oiyay, a-ya-yali!
A wolf came up to him and said:
- Brother, I will also ride down the mountain. The raven laughed at the wolf and replied:
“You can’t ride, you won’t be able to stay on the slippery mountain and you’ll fall into the water.” The wolf got offended by the raven and said:
“I have claws, and I’ll use them to slow down.” I'm strong and agile, I'll pump myself up well! I won't fall into the water!
Raven answers:
- Well, go for a ride, and I’ll take a look. A wolf rolled down the mountain and sang:
- Interesting, interesting, ha-ha, ha-ha! The wolf couldn’t resist, fell off a cliff into the chilly water, then surfaced, and asked the raven:
- Brother, get me out! Brother, get me out!
Raven answers him:
“I won’t pull you out, because I told you, don’t ride, you’ll fall.”
The ice bank is high and steep. The wolf himself cannot get out. He swims in the cold water and asks:
- Brother, get me out! The raven stands on the mountain, laughing:
“I won’t pull you out, because I told you that you’ll fall into the water!” The wolf got wet, cold, began to weaken and, crying, asks the raven:
- Brother, get me out, you are good, smart, get me out!
The raven laughed and asked:
– What will you give me for this? Wolf says:
“You’ll take my hare’s skin for this!” “I have a hare skin,” says the raven, “I hunt hares myself!”
- Brother, get me out! - the wolf asks again. “I’ll give you my hunting equipment, bow and arrows for this!”
“I have hunting equipment, a bow and arrows,” the raven calmly answers.
The wolf was completely weak, cold and, crying, asked the raven:
- Take my sister with three stripes on her nose for this. The raven took pity on the wolf and said:
- Oh, why were you silent before? Okay, I’ll get you out, just give me your sister!
The crow pulled the wolf out of the water and squeezed its fur so that the water flowed out. The wolf thanked the raven, but in his heart he was angry with him because the raven laughed at him, and decided to take revenge on the raven.
“By nightfall I will bring my sister to you,” said the wolf and left. But the wolf didn’t have a sister. So he went through the gorge and found crow droppings. From this dung he made a woman and brought her to the raven:
- Take my sister with three stripes on her nose! The raven saw a beautiful girl and said:
- Now I have a wife!
The wolf said goodbye and left, and the raven and his wife began to drink hot tea. After drinking tea, we went to bed on white deer skins. It was hot in the raven's canopy, and his wife melted all over during her sleep. The raven woke up, and in the place of his wife there was melted droppings.
The raven was offended by the wolf and decided to punish him. In the morning he found a wolf and asked him:
-Which direction are you going? The wolf answers:
- This way, through the gorge, and you?
- There, over the mountain!
The wolf went, and the raven flew around the mountain, fell in the wolf's path and turned into the carcass of a white deer. The wolf came up, saw the deer, ate it all and went to bed. And the raven came to life in the wolf’s belly, made a hole in his side, threw out all the insides, and came out, cawed and flew away.
So the raven became the winner.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru