A long time ago, in the old days, there lived an old man and an old woman. And they had seven daughters - one more beautiful than the other. The mother, looking at them, could not get enough of it. Only they were disobedient and gluttonous. Everything the old man earned was barely enough for food.
The old man cut wood in the mountains and took it to the market to sell, and his wife took care of the housework.
One day an old man went to get firewood. He sees that under a green bush in a cozy nest there are 7 eggs - white and large. The old man was delighted, put the eggs in a straw hat, loaded the firewood onto the donkey and hurried home. And it was about lunchtime. The old man gave the eggs to the old woman and strictly punished:
- Bake flatbreads - yubinzy and boil eggs. Just don't tell the children anything. At least today you and I, old woman, will have a tasty and satisfying lunch.
He said and lay down to rest. The old woman called her daughters to her and said tenderly:
- My beautiful children, take your bags, go to the river bank, take a swim, play on the green lawn. I will give you colored rags and patterned ribbons.
The girls were delighted and ran to the river bank. Meanwhile, the old woman baked 7 butter yubinzas, boiled 7 eggs, put them in a hot cauldron and locked the door.
The girls, having played enough, became hungry. Dazher ran to the door and knocked:
- Mom, mom, open the door for me, I want to take my comb with my (bag) purse.
Mother opened the door. Dazher took the bag, put the comb there and looked at the cauldron;
- The fire is burning in the stove, and the water is boiling in the cauldron. What's there?
- Hey, I’m heating water for your father, water for ablution.
The girl didn’t believe it and opened the lid. He looks, at the bottom of the cauldron there are delicious and hot yubins, and on top there are seven delicious eggs. She grabbed one yubinza and one egg and ate it.
“Just don’t tell Herzhe,” her mother warned. Dazher could not stand it and told Herzhe about the food.
Hergé ran to the door and knocked:
- Mom, mom, open the door for me, I want to take my purse with a comb.
Mother opened the door. Hergé took her purse and looked at the cauldron:
- The fire is burning in the stove, and the water is boiling in the cauldron. What's there?
- Hey, I’m heating water for your father, water for ablution.
The girl didn’t believe it and opened the lid. He looks - at the bottom of the cauldron there are delicious and hot yubins, and on top there are 6 delicious eggs. She grabbed one yubinza and an egg and ate it.
“Just don’t tell Sanzha,” the mother strictly punished. But Herzhe ran to the river bank and immediately informed Sanzhe about this.
Sanzhe ran to the door and began knocking loudly:
- Mom, mom, open the door for me, I want to take my purse with a comb.
Mother reluctantly opened the door. Sanje took her purse and looked at the cauldron.
- The fire is burning in the stove, the water is boiling in the cauldron. What's there?
- Hey, I’m heating water for your father, water for ablution.
But the girl didn’t believe it, opened the lid of the cauldron, grabbed a flatbread-yubinzy, one egg, and ate it.
“Just don’t tell Syzhe,” the mother got angry. But Sanzhe couldn’t stand it and told Syzhe. So, one after another, the seven daughters ate the yubinza and the eggs.
The old man woke up and said to the old woman:
“Hey, old woman, set the table, we’ll have dinner.” And the old woman sat silently near the stove.
The old man stood up, walked up to the cauldron, opened the lid, looked - and the cauldron was empty, only water was gurgling at the bottom.
-Where are the eggs and yubins?
“The daughters ate it,” the old woman answered, lowering her head.
The old man got angry with his gluttonous daughters and decided to get rid of them. He called his daughters to his place, sat them down, caressed each one and said:
– My children, let’s go into the forest to pick flowers. Girls from rich families decorate their hair with golden flowers, but let my girls decorate their hair with wildflowers.
The girls were happy, took their baskets and went into the forest with their father.
They walked and walked and came out into a forest clearing. And there are plenty of flowers there, whatever you want: fragrant lilies of the valley and golden dandelions, scarlet poppies and blue bells, you can’t list them all. The girls' eyes lit up and they ran across the flowering meadow.
And that's what the old man needs. He shouted after his daughters:
– Play here, don’t run too far. I'll go and chop some wood. I'll come for you in the evening.
The girls agreed. And the old man, leaving them in the deep forest, went home satisfied.
Let the old man go home, and you listen about the seven sisters.
The girls frolicked in the clearing for a long time. Like butterflies, they fluttered from flower to flower. But now the sun has disappeared beyond the horizon. It was getting dark. The girls, huddled close to each other, impatiently waited for their father. All eyes looked, but father was still not there.
Somewhere an owl moaned pitifully, foxes howled, a crow cawed overhead, and someone flashed in the bushes.
The girls trembled with fear and began to cry. Fearfully looking around, they ran wherever their eyes were looking. They ran for a long time and finally reached a lonely hut. They quietly walked to the window and looked inside. In a cramped dugout, littered with various rubbish, a huge monster, hairy and ugly, was sitting on the floor. An ancient old woman, also hairy and ugly, was fussing around the stove. The girls became even more frightened and wanted to run away. But the old woman had already noticed them and, running outside, blocked their path. The girls froze in fear. In front of them stood a hunchbacked old woman with a hooked nose and bloodshot eyes. Looking at them, she spoke in a gentle voice;
- My children, beautiful berries, fat and sweet, what a blessing that they came to me. Come in, delicious food, you will be guests.
The girls were speechless. The old woman, mad with joy, led everyone into a small hut and sat them down on the earthen floor. It smelled of dampness and human blood. The girls realized that they were among the cannibals. The old woman whispered something to her son, who nodded with his huge muzzle and laughed loudly.
A little time passed.
“How to be saved,” this thought never ceased to depress the eldest girl Dazher. If you try to escape, the cannibals will still catch up and eat you, and you can’t stay there, they won’t let you out anyway?
It was late at night. Then Dazher plucked up courage and asked tenderly:
- Grandma, grandma, can we go outside to relieve ourselves?
The old woman released them and punished them in formation:
- Look at me. Don't run far, otherwise I'll catch you and eat you.
- Don’t worry grandma, we have nowhere to run, we will stay here.
The girls came outside. It was deep night. Everything was engulfed in sleep. They want to go back, but they are afraid. They stand and cry.
Suddenly, somewhere nearby they heard a heavy groan. The girls ran there. In a barn filled with logs, women lay tied up and moaned quietly. The one closest to the door looked at them sadly.
– My children, it means that you too have become prisoners of the damned cannibals. Save yourself before it's too late. We'll tell you what to do. And the woman began to teach Dazher what to do next.
“Before you go to bed, the old woman will ask you which canon you will sleep on—wooden or iron.” Choose iron. This way you will save yourself. When you hear that the cannibals are snoring, do not be afraid, boldly run out into the street, they are sleeping soundly. Don’t forget to take the queza sticks from the table - this is the favorite thing of cannibals, grab the ax that lies at the threshold. Then come here and we'll run away together. Now quickly go into the hut and do as we told you.
The girls quickly ran into the hut.
- Oh, you scoundrels, where have you been for so long? - the old woman got angry. If you are not meek and obedient, I will eat you all. She said and pinched each one painfully.
The girls started crying. The eldest girl, Dazher, was unable to give an answer out of fear.
Plucking up courage, she said slyly:
“Grandma, I’m the one who delayed everyone.” My stomach hurt a lot...
“Okay,” the old woman grumbled. It's late, time to go to bed. What canon will you sleep on: wooden or iron?
“On the iron one,” the girls answered in unison. The old woman led them to the iron canon, and she herself lay down on the wooden one.
“The well-fed ones are closer to me, the thin ones are further away from the wall.”
The eldest girl, Dazher, lay down closer to the old woman, trembling with fear.
And the cannibal son at that time stretched out near the stove and fell fast asleep. After some time, the cannibals began snoring as loud as they could.
The girls carefully shifted the old woman onto the iron cann, rolled the wooden board to the side, and took the queza sticks and the ax on the table. Quickly, one after another, they slipped out and ran into the barn to free the women. Then they started to run.
Let them run, and you listen about the cannibal's son.
At midnight, the cannibal's son woke up, yawning sweetly, and began sharpening a huge cleaver. Then he began to probe the canal with his hands. And grab the first head you come across with a cleaver. Putting the cleaver back in place, he began to call his mother.
- Mom, get up quickly, I have prepared food for you. Let's eat fatty, young meat, drink hot and sweet blood.
But no one responded. The cannibal son screamed even louder; there was silence in the room. The son became worried and rushed around. He looked closely and saw that there were no girls, and the dead body of the mother was lying on the eland. The cannibal growled in a wild voice, began to tear out his hair, collapsed to the ground, and groaned heavily:
Ts'shon, tsiyaon, sharpened the knife,
At midnight he killed his mother.
Having come to his senses, he ran out into the street and looked into the barn. And there it was empty.
The cannibal became enraged and rushed in pursuit.
And the captives keep running and running through dark forests, across wide rivers, endless fields; Suddenly they hear a noise behind them. We looked around, and there a dark hulk was running at full speed. Dazher threw her cueza stick and ran on.
The cannibal looks - his favorite shelf has fallen face down on the ground (because cannibals cannot bend), picked up his wand, ran back into the house, put the wand on the table and again set off in pursuit. The girls saw that the cannibal was about to overtake them, and again they threw the wand. The cannibal picked up the stick, took it home and again ran to catch up with the fugitives. And so, one after another, the captives threw out all the shelves. While the cannibal was collecting and taking them home, it began to get light. He was afraid to go further and wandered into the dark forest.
Thus, having experienced fear and hunger, the women and girls reached home safely.
Since then, young women stopped going to the forest, and the girls became obedient and quiet.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru