Once upon a time they lived in the neighborhood, in the Burunur tract, the rich man Boilyt and the poor old man Bordo with three sons: the eldest was called Doda, the middle Nalybyr, the youngest Bert-Er.
Bordeaux and his sons were engaged in hunting, and that is how they existed. One year, for some unknown reason, there was no hunting at all, and life was very difficult for the poor. Despite the fact that sometimes they had to eat nothing, they still held on and did not go for robbery. But such a strong need came that the father suggested to his sons that one of them sell himself as a slave to Boilyt. The sons thought and decided among themselves that the eldest, Doda, should become a slave. The next day, Dodoy went to Boilyt, told him that their hunt was unsuccessful, that there was nothing to eat at home, and asked Boilyt to help them, to save them from starvation, and for that to take him as a slave. Boilyt listened, felt sorry for them and said:
“Okay, I’ll take you and give you to your father and brothers for a living, but you swear that you will be my faithful servant!”
Dodoy agreed.
“Okay,” said Boilyt, “now take the birch bark and make your oath sign on it!”
Dodoy pulled out a bone knife from its sheath and cut his little finger with it, he smeared the end of the knife with blood and used it to draw on the birch bark either a spear or just a stick, and said:
- From this day on, I honor you as my ruler! After that, he kissed the bloody knife and, kneeling, handed the birch bark to Boilyt. Boilyt took Dodoy by the hand and led him to his seven wives.
- Here is my new subject - your slave. After this, the rich man gave Dodoy several cattle and horses and allowed him to go home to his father to spend the night. The next day, when Dodoy came to Boilyt, Boilyt told him that if Dodoy did not exactly do everything he was ordered to do, he would severely punish him. Then he gave Dodoy good bulls, an ax for chopping wood, gave him meat for food and told him to carry firewood. After listening to the order, Dodoy remembered how one old worker talked about a slave whose owner ordered him to flay his skin for the smallest offense, and he became afraid. In fear, he did not know what to do; However, it was necessary to collect everything that was needed and go for firewood. In the forest, he kept thinking about how the slave was flayed, and also about the fact that it was impossible for him alone to chop ten cartloads of firewood in one day. Sweat poured from him, and he kept chopping and chopping. Finally he was so tired that he fell to the ground unconscious. When he woke up, he began to shout:
- Chop wood for ten bulls! This is impossible! He wanted to get to his feet, but he didn’t have the strength, and he fell again. He began to remember his former life, how he hunted of his own free will. And now, perhaps, the same fate awaits him as that slave from whom the skin was removed! Dodoy didn’t know what to do; his head was spinning, he began to cry and lament: “It would be better for me not to live, not to see the light, it would be better to die!”
Turning in the direction where the forest was thicker, he began to ask for either death or help from the forest spirit, the patron saint of all those in trouble. Doda sang his request:
- Lord of all dark forests, owner of furs, rich in mercy for the poor, save me, a wretched man!
He sang this song for a long time until he fell asleep. When he woke up, there were no bulls, no tools, no meat near him. Dodoy searched like mad for his loss, but no matter where he rushed, he couldn’t find it anywhere.
While Dodoy was sleeping, Boilyt came and stole everything. Dodoy thought that the bulls might have gone home; he rushed quickly to the master's yard; but as soon as he entered the gate, Boilyt met him and said:
- You are a bad slave, you did not fulfill your oath! Then, turning to the servants, he ordered to bring a sword. When the sword was brought, they knocked Dodoy down and, without any pity, tore off the skin from his back, legs and arms. After this, Boilyt ordered Dodoy to be thrown into the water, and to tell his father and brothers that a bear had killed him in the forest.
The family grieved greatly that Dodoy died.
“That’s right, the forest spirit wanted it that way, since the bear tore him to pieces!” - said Dodoy’s father and brothers.
There was still no food, the hunger continued. Bordo and his family again became poor and decided that the middle brother Nalybyr should go to Boilyt as a worker. The same thing happened to Nalybyr as to Dodoy; he was also brutally killed and thrown into the water. Old man Bordeaux grieved so much for his sons that he himself died; Now Bert-Er is the only one left from the whole family. He was a smart man and had extraordinary strength; More than once he had to kill a bear or a wolf while hunting without any weapons. Bert-Er did not believe that his brothers were killed by a bear, and he really wanted to know the real reason for their death; he often wondered if Boilyt himself was to blame for their deaths? Bert-Er thought and thought and decided to go to Boilyt as a slave. Bert-Er, concluding a condition with Boilyt, told himself that he had to live without work for ten days. During these ten days, living without work, Bert-Er met other slaves and the old man who told Doda how the slave was skinned, and from him he learned how his brothers died. Bert-Er became very angry after this and vowed to take revenge on Boilyt.
When ten days had passed, the rich man gave Bert-Heru oxen, axes and food and sent him into the forest for firewood. Bert-Er went; There he quickly coped with the work; As soon as he grabs a tree, he pulls it out by the roots, puts it in a sleigh, and it’s done! Not even an hour had passed before all ten of his sleighs were piled up with trees; the carts were so heavy that the oxen could hardly drag them; Bert-Er killed the bulls, tied up all the sleighs and dragged all ten sleighs himself.
When the servants saw this, everyone was terribly frightened; Boilyt himself was neither alive nor dead from fear. Having woken up, Boilyt sent to ask: how did the daring slave dare to kill his bulls? The messenger approached Bert-Heru with great fear, bowed to him and said:
- Good friend, the owner asks why did you kill his bulls?
“Tell the owner, let him first tell me why he killed my brothers, then I’ll tell him why I killed the bulls,” answered Bert-Er.
The messenger recounted the answer to Boilyt.
The rich man got angry; at another time he killed slaves for his own pleasure, but here he became so cowardly that he sent to tell Bert-Heru: “I forgive him this first crime, but I won’t forgive him the second! Let him not get caught again, otherwise he will not escape a cruel execution!”
Bert-Er told him to say: “There is no need to frighten me, I am not afraid of punishments! It’s better for the owner to think about how cruelly I will take revenge on him for my brothers.”
Returning with this answer, the messenger thought: “What a fine fellow Bert-Er is! He doesn’t want to know Boilyt; it’s true that he’s a strong hero if he does such things. Soon, apparently, the end will come for Boilyt. Serves him right! He’s a cruel master, from whom he tore the skin, who he forced to stand under arrows; who knows, the dog, he tormented our brother? Now you’ll cool down! Bert-Er will teach you, how to live with people!" At this, the servant even jumped for joy, he was so glad that the end of Boilyt was coming.
From that time on, Bert-Er became known to everyone; Everyone began to look at him as an extraordinary person. Everyone began to show him respect; It seemed to everyone that he was a defender of the oppressed; his slaves listened to every word as sacred. Each slave tried to get Bert-Er to pay attention to him. His name was heard everywhere, everywhere they talked about the good deeds that Bert-Er did. The virtue and heroism of Bert-Ery were revered in the house of Boilyt. Boilyt had a daughter, beautiful and kind, not at all like her father; her name was Kyten-Kytalyn; she fell in love with Bert-Ery, and he fell in love with her.
Boilyt did not like the fact that everyone loved Bert-Ery, that the slaves were ready to obey him in everything; he feared for his life, he knew that the slaves could not wait for his death. More than once he himself had to hear slaves say: “It would be good if Bert-Er provided this Boilyt to us! We would kill him like a dog!” Boilyt planned to destroy Bert-Erya. One day a man came to him and said:
“You are now, our lord, in great danger!” This sirgilyak (scoundrel) is a devil's spawn, too impudent! We'll show him who he's dealing with! After all, you are our great ruler from time immemorial; no one ever dared to go against you!
- What can I say! He is kastyubet (a very swear word), you are a pesminya (an affectionate word)! - said Boilyt. “Do you know how we can get rid of Bert-Ery?”
- How can you not know! Send him for the bear, which, it seems, has been locked up for three centuries. You, sir, must have heard about the hero Hallan-Ola-Kharylly-Mokhsogol, who lived during the time of your great-grandfather. Mokhsogol grabbed this bear and put him in a dungeon, and this bear, they say, feeds only on human flesh and will not disappear as long as our world stands.
- Well, what will happen if we send Bert-Ery for the bear? Will he still agree to go?
- Don't worry! He will probably agree and probably won’t return from there. Treat him more kindly, say: “You are my faithful servant and a brave man! Bring me my bull; he is standing in such and such a dungeon; the bull is very special: he has no horns and no tail.” To make sure he agrees, you promise him that as a reward you will give him your daughter in marriage; I heard that he loves her very much and will agree to anything for her.
The next day, Boilyt called Bert-Ery to his place, received him kindly and with honor, sat him down on the billirik (the most honorable place in the house), treated him to fatty horse meat and kumiss with milk. After this he began to say:
“I felt the proximity of death, shamans and dream-readers also predicted my imminent death, so I thought about who I would leave my wealth and power to.” I don't have a son; and a daughter without a husband - what a person! Strangers can steal everything and give my daughter away to be mocked. So I came up with the idea of finding a son-in-law as quickly as possible. I love you, Bert-Er! You are a brave man, good; We haven’t had people like you for a long time; My daughter says the same thing. I wish you to be my son-in-law and my heir!
Bert-Er could not believe his ears and eyes. He lost his mind with joy; forgot all the grievances, forgot that he had sworn to take revenge on Boilyt for his brothers. He fell to his knees and, holding the legs of his future father-in-law, assured him of his devotion and said:
- Forgive me, and I forgive you! Boilyt picked up Bert-Ery from the floor and said:
- Now everything is yours: my wealth, my power and my daughter! But you, of course, know the custom: if someone wants to marry a girl, then first he must honor her parents - fulfill one of their wishes, even if it threatens his life. So, as usual, I want you to serve for me. A long time ago, a very long time ago, when my father was not yet in the world, there lived a bear, Aga-ogus (father-bull); we call it that out of respect. He was scary to everyone; he took revenge on those who spoke disrespectfully of him. At night, he allegedly turned into Eren - a kyla (snake) and in this form flew all over the world; whichever sleepy person he touched, either illness or death would happen to him. In the time of my grandfather, a strong hero like you, a hero named Hallan-Ola-Kharylly-Mokhsogol, chained this bear in iron chains and locked him in the dungeon that I recently showed you. I don’t know why he locked him there, but people tell many wonderful things about this beast; I would like to see what he is like and whether what they say about him is true. Go, my son, bring this monster to me, and then your daughter and all your wealth will be yours.
- Okay, father! - said Bert-Er, bowed to Boilyt and left his house, thinking how he could quickly get the monster.
Boilyt was glad that everything worked out as he wished, so easily and quickly, and said to his entourage:
“It’s enough for us to be afraid of Bert-Ery!” It's time to end it!
Not long after, Boilyt heard a terrible noise in his yard: people screaming, bulls, cows mooing, horses neighing, dogs barking; A little later, about twenty people ran into his yurt, almost ran over each other at the door, and everyone shouted: “Abytay! Abakhy! Allarkhay!” Boilyt ran out into the yard. He sees dead people and all kinds of livestock lying everywhere, and a monster is running around the yard and attacks Bert-Ery, and every time it runs into him, Bert-Ery hits him with a club. Boilyt was very frightened, fell on his knees in front of Bert-Erem and prayed: “Save, lord!”
Then Bert-Er, without thinking twice, killed the monster with a club with one swing and chopped it into small pieces. Then he approached Boylyt and said:
-Now I have fulfilled your wish, now you fulfill your promise.
“Take it, it’s all yours,” Boilyt said, took him by the hand and led him to his daughter.
Showing her Bert-Ery, he said:
- My child, here is your husband!
After this, the rich man never dared to ask Bert-Ery for anything.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru