A long time ago there lived a rich man. Baya-Mafa was his name. A poor man built a hut next to his home. It was called Jenku-Mafa.
Jenku-Mafa lived poorly. There was nothing to eat, no dressing gown. I suffered. That's how I lived. I was embarrassed to go to a rich man. The rich man didn’t go to him either, he tried not to see him.
One evening the poor man said to his wife:
“I’ll go to the forest early in the morning.” Prepare me yukola, a birch bark ladle, haikty-herbs, matches.
My wife did everything as asked. Early in the morning Jenku-Mafa was in a hurry to go to the forest. I quickly got dressed. Yukola, haiktu, birch bark ladle, box of matches tucked into his belt. I walked along the river. Walked, walked. He looks, the ice is cracked, the water is getting dark. Steam comes from the water. Just opposite the crack I stopped where the bank was higher. He stuffed the boyarka berry into his nostrils and lay down.
At that time the old hare Tuxa came there. He walked around for a long time, ran, looked, and then began to shout:
- Tall hares, run here! Let's see why the old man died. Spruce hares, run here quickly! Birch hares, everyone run here! The poor grandfather died.
All the hares came running. They began to look at why the old man died.
Tuxa says this:
- If you say that he is hungry, then he has yukola with him; if you say it’s because of the cold, he has matches with him; if you think about what you want to drink, he has a ladle. We need to go tell the old woman.
Tuksa ran to tell the old woman.
The old woman didn't believe it. This is what he says:
“I was completely healthy this morning.” How can you die without a reason? You probably killed him yourself. If you didn't kill him yourself, bring the old man here.
Tuksa ran. He began to call all the talnik, spruce, and birch hares. The hares came running; there are a lot of hares. Everyone wants to drag the old man. Some grabbed his leg, some grabbed his hand, some grabbed his beard, some grabbed his ear, they all dragged and carried the old man home. They dragged Jenka-Maf straight to the hut.
Then the old woman runs out to meet you. Screams like this:
“Bring him here, everyone go into the hut, now the cold wind will blow, we need to close ourselves in.”
All the hares came running into the house. Then Jenku-Mafa rose to his feet and began to beat the hares. I killed all the hares, but didn’t have time to kill one. That hare was white, round Bombole. The old woman herself wanted to kill him with a poker, but missed. She hit him on the ear. The ear turned black. Bombole broke free and ran into the forest. Jenku-Mafa got angry and said to the old woman:
- Why did you let it out, now all the hares will know... All evening Jenka-Mafa and the old woman gutted the hares, peeled the skins, and cooked the meat. We cooked a lot. Then the old man says:
- Go, old woman, invite the rich man to visit. Baya-Mafa came, looked at how many hares the poor man had killed, and was very surprised:
- Jenku-Mafa, where did you kill so many birds with one stone? Jenku-Mafa says:
– I went into the forest, walked along the river, there I saw the ice cracked, the water was getting dark. Steam comes from the water. I stopped right in front of the crack. The bank is higher there. He stuffed the boyarka berry into his nostrils and lay down.
Jenku-Mafa told everything as it happened. Baya-Mafa was greedy. He came home and said to his wife:
- The poor man killed many hares. We must kill more. Prepare me yukols, haikts, a birch bark ladle, a box of matches. Early in the morning I will go to the forest.
As I said, my wife did everything. Early in the morning Baya-Mafa was in a hurry to go to the forest. I quickly got dressed. Yukola, haiktu, birch bark ladle, matches - he tucked everything into his belt. I walked along the river. Walked, walked. I found the place where the ice cracked. He lay down on the shore, stuffed the boyar berry into his nostrils, and lay quietly.
One hare came running to him, ran around, looked for a long time, then began to shout:
- Tall hares, run here! Let's see why the old man died. Spruce hares, quickly run here! Birch hares, everyone run here! The rich old man died.
All the hares came running. They began to look at why Baya-Mafa died.
One hare says this:
- If you say that he is hungry, then he has yukola with him; if you say it’s because of the cold, he has matches with him; If you think that he was thirsty and died of thirst, he has a ladle. We need to go tell the old woman.
That hare went and began to tell the old woman.
She got angry. He says this:
“You probably killed him yourself.” If you didn’t kill yourself, then bring the old man here.
That hare ran into the forest. He began to call all the hares - the talnikov, spruce, and birch hares. All the hares came running. Everyone wants to drag the old man. They surrounded the old man from all sides. Just as they were about to pick it up, Bombole suddenly runs with a black ear.
Bombole tells them:
- Hares! Don't drag him. He wants to kill you all. I know! The hares began to run away. Baya-Mafa got angry, got up and started beating them. I managed to catch only two birds with one stone, the others ran away.
Baya-Mafa came home, almost cried with anger, and said:
“The poor man set it all up.” He taught the hares. I almost got killed. He barely survived. They wanted to throw it into the river.
Several days have passed. Jenku-Mafa and his old woman ate all the meat. There is nothing to eat again. It's scary to go to a rich person. Baya Mafa got angry with him. He remembered his old debts, calculated everything, and wants to take the last dogs.
Jenku-Mafa thought for a long time about what to do, how to live. One evening he says to his wife:
– Prepare for me, old woman, more cedar resin. We need to make glue. Tomorrow I'll go to the forest.
They did this and made a lot of glue. Early in the morning Jenku-Mafa got dressed and went into the forest. There I saw a big tree. Many birds sat on the branches. Those birds, frightened, flew away when Jenku-Mafa came close. He climbed a tree. Going down, I smeared glue on the knots, smeared the trunk to the very bottom, until it stood on the ground.
Then he shouted and whistled so that all the birds would flock together. Many birds flew in. Sitting on a tree, they couldn’t tear themselves away; they were stuck. Many birds stuck to each other, just like mosquitoes stuck around. Jenku-Mafa peeled off the birds and put them in a knapsack. I folded it and brought it home.
The old woman was delighted, began to pluck feathers and cook soup. Then Jenku-Mafa said:
- Go, old woman, invite the rich man to visit. They called the rich man. Baya-Mafa came, sat down to eat and said:
- Jenku-Mafa! Where did you catch so many birds? He told everything as it happened. Then Baya-Mafa went home and said to his wife:
“The poor man caught a lot of birds, we must catch even more.” Get me some glue. Tomorrow morning I'll go to the forest. They did it as they said. Baya-Mafa went into the forest. There I saw a big tree. Many birds were sitting on the branches. Frightened, the birds flew away when the rich man came close. Then Baya-Mafa began to smear the tree with glue. He smears it himself, climbs up, climbs higher, rises all the time and smears glue on the tree. So he got dirty and wants to go downstairs, but nothing comes of it. He's stuck and can't get down. He began to shout, calling his old woman:
- Mamasa! Go unstick me, I'm stuck to the tree! An old woman came running, climbed a tree, and also stuck to it. Then they started calling the dog to help:
- Guvasa! Guvasa! Go unstick us, we're stuck! Guvas's dog came running. Having come running, she jumped onto a tree with a running start, but she couldn’t tear herself away. Baya Mafa sits above everyone else, his mamas is stuck a little lower, and the dog is below. All three stuck. Baya-Mafa began to call the poor man for help:
- Hey, Jenku-Mafa! Come here! Help us out. We're stuck. Jenku-Mafa heard, began to laugh, and said:
- Stay, Baya-Mafa, on the tree; You were rich, you didn’t let me live, you counted my debts. Stay on the tree. You wanted more and more, now you don’t need anything.
So Baya-Mafa remained on the tree, so his mamasa remained on the tree, so Guvasa’s dog remained on the tree. Everything there has dried up, turned into round lumps, into growths.
Since then, growths have been growing on large trees.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru