In the old days, two brothers went to the mountains to hunt. They chose a small gorge in which there was a stream, and every summer they began to place poles over the abyss, driving a wooden peg into each pole on both sides so that it would not fall. Weasels and foxes run along the poles, snoop around, there is no need to jump from mountain to mountain.
And when the frost falls out, the fur of the foxes and weasels grows back, the brothers will tie a trap to each peg and add a pebble underneath. The animal will walk, fall into a trap, fall into the water, and choke. The brothers will sell the skins and live comfortably.
But then one day, on the thirtieth day of the twelfth moon, snow fell and covered all the mountains. On the plain it lies three inches thick. The elder brother took the sleigh and went to the village. I brought some wine and meat. They made dumplings and prepared to celebrate the New Year with flying colors. They made dumplings, but it wasn’t time to cook, so the elder brother decided to take a walk and went to someone else’s hut ten li away. The younger brother was left alone. I waited and waited, but the elder brother still did not return. Then the wind came, picked up the little brother, spun him around, twirled him, well, just like a paper scroll, and carried him to God knows where. The young man opened his eyes and looked at a mountain cave in front of him. There is a wide canal in the cave, and a girl is sitting on the canyon. The young man didn’t know where he had gone, he wanted to go away, and the girl asked him:
-Where are you going?
The young man answers:
- Home, to your hut.
The girl asks again, calmly:
- Will you get there?
The young man got angry and said:
- Why not come?
He said this, walked up to the door, wanted to run, but that was not the case. He looked down and was stunned. The cave, it turns out, is located on a stone scree in the very middle of the mountain. If you look up, you can’t see the top; if you look down, you can’t see the bottom. There is no way back, no forward. The younger brother became alarmed, did not know what to do, cried bitterly and said:
- Sister, and sister, show at least a drop of kindness, help me get out of here!
The girl got off the kana, went up to the young man, pulled out a handkerchief, wiped away his tears, laughed cheerfully and said:
- Once you’ve come, don’t fuss. Live here for a while!
The younger brother does not listen to the girl, he cries more than ever, and repeats his own:
- I want to go home! I'm still tossing and turning!
The girl says:
-Where are you going? After all, today is the last day of the old year. Let's celebrate the New Year together, and then we'll talk.
The girl said this, pointed to the stone table, and there was fish, meat, wine, and rice - you name it! The young man looked at the table and became even more sad. He stamped his foot and said:
- I want to go home! I'm still tossing and turning!
The girl says to him even more affectionately:
- Look at the snow! When you come to your hut, what will you do? Live better here!
The young man looks: the bed is all covered with silk and satin, and he bursts into tears even more. No matter how much his girlfriend persuades him, it’s all in vain. Then she quietly pulled out a small fan, waved it three times behind the young man’s back, the young man instantly calmed down and didn’t cry anymore. The girl wiped his tears, they sat down together, began to eat and drink, and became husband and wife.
A young man lives in a cave for fifteen days, fifteen nights, he forgot to think about his native home, and even more so about his older brother. The fifteenth day of the new year has arrived, it is called Yuanxiao Day. The young man and the girl had dinner, she gave him new clothes and said:
“You’ve lived here for many days, your heart is probably gnawing at you, today is the Mid-First Month Festival, let’s go to the plain, have fun, and look at the festive lanterns.”
The young man was happy. He was born in the remote mountains, and never saw the festival of lanterns. The young man closed his eyes, as the girl ordered, and felt as if the wind was blowing across his legs, someone lifted him into the air and instantly lowered him to the ground.
The little brother opened his eyes: what fun there is all around! Taverns, wine shops, sellers of round pancakes - you can’t count all sorts of people. Some of the firecrackers shoot, others stand near the stalls and sell, others walk on stilts. And you can’t tell how elegantly they are dressed: dresses of all colors and styles, for every taste. The lanterns they carry on the streets are all kinds! About seven stars, about eight corners, with nine sons, with eight immortals, with different birds, with embroidered balls, with lions, with storks... And one lantern is a luminous dragon, a whole crowd carries it on sticks. Small colored lanterns are visible and invisible. The younger brother looks at them, as if spellbound, almost screaming with joy. The girl just holds him tightly by the hand, doesn’t tell him to talk to anyone, doesn’t let him go a step further. They looked at the lanterns enough, the girl said to him:
- I should have a snack!
And she took the young man to a large wine shop, gave him a fan, and told him to take great care of it so as not to get lost. And in the wine shop there is a noise, a din, someone is blowing a trumpet, someone is strumming the strings, someone is hitting the strings with a plectrum, someone is singing, someone is making wishes on their fingers, someone is performing arias, there are bright lanterns all around and wax candles are burning - and sparkling with lights. Because of this noise, because of the turmoil, the little brother’s ears cannot hear, his eyes cannot see. As they began to eat, the younger brother, out of forgetfulness, put the fan on the table. Then, out of nowhere, a black-faced guy rushed past - grab a fan! The girl saw this, her face changed, she rushed upstairs, let’s fight with that guy. And he takes it away, and he takes it away, but he can’t take it away. She ran downstairs and suddenly disappeared - a light stream of smoke. The younger brother got up and also started fighting with that guy, chasing each other, all the tables in the shop were turned upside down, the floor was dirty with rice and snacks. People gathered around, watching. Take both of them to the yamen soon.
The servant from the shop, the one who carries the wine, showed that the fan really belonged to the younger brother. The judge took the fan and gave it to the young man. But the black-faced man doesn’t let up, shouts at the top of his lungs that it’s his fan - and that’s it! The judge got angry, hit the table with a wooden mallet, and shouted:
“It’s clear to me that you committed a robbery in a wine shop, and witnesses confirmed it, and the evidence is clear.” How dare you contradict and deny?
Blackface says:
“If it really is his fan, let him tell the master what is written on that fan.” If he says so, I will immediately admit my guilt.
The official began to ask the younger brother, but he didn’t know. And the young man finally had to tell the official everything as it was. Then the judge turned to the black-faced man and asked:
- Well, do you know what is written on the fan?
- I, insignificant, can say. Changbai Mountain is depicted, a high stone cliff and a cave that hangs in the air. A huge root grew in that cave!
The official unfolded his fan - and indeed everything is as the black-faced man said.
The judge asks:
- Well, what is the use of this fan?
The black-faced man answers:
- You can find the root from this picture. This is an old ginshen, a thousand years old, he has already become a werewolf. When I saw that girl in the shop, I immediately realized that she was a werewolf.
The official saw the light and said:
“In my opinion, this fan is no longer needed now.” Go to the mountains to look for renshen. Today is the fifteenth, a holiday, there is already a lot to do in the evening, there is no time to deal with you.
Then something fell on the floor - it was the official who threw the fan. The drum beat, and the official left the yamen.
In the first month, all the mountains were covered with snow and ice. Where to look for that ginshen now?
The younger brother never took the fan from the black-faced man and decided to go back to the mountains. He walked for many days, many nights, overcame ten large mountains, climbed another one, until he found his hut and saw his elder brother. The younger brother told about everything that had happened to him, and then the elder realized that the younger brother had been entangled by the werewolf renshen. He told his brother to hunt in the mountains and not to think about that girl anymore.
But the girl got home, waited until evening, and sent the wind for her smaller brother. Again the wind brought the younger brother into the stone cave. The young man saw the girl and asked:
“Why did you drag me into your place again?”
The girl answers:
- I need to talk to you.
The young man asks:
“Is it true that you are a werewolf renshen?”
The girl answers:
- True.
The young man tells her:
“I heard that everything living and inanimate that turns into a werewolf brings evil to a person.”
The girl asks:
- Have I ever caused you any harm?
The young man says:
- Well, why were you looking for me that time?
The girl answers:
- Because it’s destiny for us to be together.
The young man says:
- And if it’s fate, let’s go to my house to live.
The girl answers:
- You can’t! Just as the fan disappeared, our connection was destroyed forever! I must leave here!
The girl said this and began to wipe away her tears.
The young man looked at her, became sad and asked:
-Where will you go now?
“There’s a lot of space in the mountains, wherever I want, that’s where I’ll live.”
The young man asks:
- Will we see each other someday?
The girl answers:
- Remember firmly: the mountains are green, the river is flowing, there is scree to the left, there is a gorge to the right, there is grass and trees in the middle - that’s where my home will be.
The night has passed, the morning has come. The little brother's girlfriend saw him off. He became sad and said:
“My brother and I must return home in the spring.”
And the girl also sadly answers him like this:
- As you go, go down from this scree of stones, I will give you something so that you don’t know your needs and don’t forget me.
So the ice melted in the old, dense forest, the snow melted, the buds on the trees opened, the birds began to sing and compete with each other. The brothers collected the skins and went to the valley. They walk across a stone cliff and look - pure white ginshen flowers have bloomed on the cliff. The brothers dug up roots, large and small, and took several dozen home with them. Then the black-faced guy came, brought people, found a stone cave, went to dig out the root, but there was nothing there.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru