Once upon a time there was a girl, her name was Silk Tassel - Torko-Chachak. Her eyes were like bird cherry berries. Eyebrows - two rainbows.
One day the old father fell ill. This is what the mother says:
- Go, Silk Tassel, call the wise kam. Hurry, my child Torko-Chachak!
The girl jumped into the saddle and rode off. Kam lived in a birch bark village. Ail stood over a stormy river.
Kam sat at his doorstep and cut birch chochoyki with a large knife. His eyebrows were like moss. The beard grew from the eyes to the ground. From a distance he saw the Silk Tassel.
Her horse's bridle bounced like a wagtail's tail.
The rings of the harness jingled merrily. The tassel on the hat shone like a moonbeam.
The knife fell out of the Kam's right hand and scratched him until he bled
leg. From the left, a chochoyka rolled into the fire. Torko-Cacak repeated three times:
- Uncle, my father is sick. Help us!
And only when the Silk Tassel repeated her
request for the eighth time, Kam slowly yawned, as if waking up from sleep.
“Tomorrow, at dawn, I’ll come.” Before they had time to spread the white felt on the floor of the camp, they had not yet fermented the chegen for araki, when it had already become
you can hear the ringing of countless bells from the kama’s fur coat and the menacing roar of his leather tambourine.
Kam arrived in the dark, long before dawn. Silently, without opening his eyes, he dismounted from his horse and entered the village. People brought a heavy fur coat behind him. They hung a large tambourine on a nail and lit a fire of fragrant juniper branches under the tambourine. All day, from dawn to evening, Kam sat silently, without raising his eyelids, refusing food. Late at night, he pulled his red cap down to his eyebrows. Feathers pulled from the eagle owl's tail stuck out on the cap like ears. Two rags hung from behind like two wings. Large beads, like hail, fell on his face. Groaning, he picked up his two-pound fur coat from the ground. He stuck his hands into the heavy sleeves. On the sides of the fur coat hung frogs and snakes woven from leather. The skins of woodpeckers dangled on its back.
The long rags trembled. The bells rang. Kam fell to the ground, and people saw only a dark tambourine and heard the terrible knock of a wooden mallet. Kam stood up, the reflections of the flame lit on his bells. Kam began to spin slowly. He was spinning faster and faster.
Suddenly the bells stopped all at once. In the silence, like a clap of thunder, a leather tambourine boomed. Kam straightened up. His arms are outstretched. The beads fell from the face to the crown. He sat down, stretched out his hand to the birch bark tray, ate the goat's heart and said:
- We must destroy the Silk Tassel - Torko-Chachak. The unclean spirit Der-Eezi, the owner of the earth, sent its beauty to us. As long as the girl walks here, the cows will not give birth, the children will die out, and the old man’s illness will not go away.
The women fell face down. The old men pressed their hands to their eyes, and tears leaked through their clenched fingers. The young people blushed twice and turned pale twice.
“Put the Silk Tassel in a wooden barrel,” the kam droned, “wrap the barrel with nine iron hoops, nail the bottom with copper nails and throw it into a stormy river.”
Kam took off his heavy fur coat. He took off his hat, sat in the saddle and rode away.
“Hey,” he said to his servants at home, “go to the bank of the stormy river, the water will bring me a large barrel.” Catch her, fish her out and put her in my village. Run into the forest yourself. If you hear crying, don’t come back. A groan and a cry will spread through the forest - don’t come. Don't show up in my village before three days later.
For seven days people did not dare to carry out the order of the kama. Silk Tassel cried for seven days. On the eighth, they put her in a large barrel, bound the barrel with nine iron hoops, hammered the bottom with copper nails and threw it into a stormy river.
And that day an orphan fisherman, Balykchi, was fishing by the river. He was the first to see a large barrel, caught it, brought it to his green hut, took an ax, knocked out the bottom and saw the girl. As Balykchi stood with an ax in his hand, he remained standing. His heart jumped like a grasshopper.
Silk Tassel told Balykchi about the evil Kam. The fisherman took the girl out of the barrel, put an angry dog in it and threw her back into the river.
Kam's servants caught the barrel, took it to the village, and they themselves ran away into the forest: that's what Kam ordered. They had not gone far when a scream, a groan, a howl was heard from the village.
- Help! - Kam shouted. - Help!
But the servants ran even faster, even further: this is what Kam ordered.
Only three days later did they dare to return. Kam lay dead across the fire. The servants could not understand who had gnawed his throat.
And Torko-Chachak began to live with a fisherman in a green hut. But they had absolutely nothing to eat, because the fisherman could no longer fish. He looked at the Silk Tassel day and night. How many times did Balykchi take his fishing rod and try to go to the river! He steps and turns around. And as soon as the girl’s face disappears behind the pine trunk, Balykchi runs back to look at the Silk Tassel again, because her eyes were like bird cherry berries, her eyebrows were like a rainbow, and Chinese shells were ringing in her braids.
Torko-Chachak took a piece of birch bark, cut out her image on the bark with a knife, nailed the birch bark to a stick, and stuck the stick into the ground near the shore. And Balykchi began to often go to the river to take a closer look at the painted birch bark.
Once I was staring at the birch bark of Balykchy and did not notice that a big fish had bitten. The fish pulled the line, the fishing rod slipped out of Balykchi’s hands, and the rod got caught. for a stick, the birch bark fell into the water and floated down the river.
Silk Tassel cried loudly, began to rub her eyebrows with her palms, and tousled her braids with her fingers.
- Whoever sees birch bark will come here! Who will find the birch bark, who will come? Go away, Balykchy, so they don’t kill you! Having sewn yourself a goat coat, turn it fur side up and sit on it. blue bull and go look for me along the river.
At the very mouth of the stormy river lies the camp of Kara Khan.
His slaves caught the painted birch bark, saw the face of Silk Tassel and sat down on the shore, forgetting about work. The water carried away their hats. The cattle ran across the hills.
- Who said that today is a holiday? Whose are you celebrating? - Kara Khan thundered, jumping up to the slaves.
Then he saw a piece of birch bark. He took the birch bark from the slaves, touched the reins and turned the horse towards the source of the river. All his strong men and servants galloped after Kara Khan.
Silk Tassel was alone in the green hut. She did not cry or laugh when she saw this formidable army. Silently she sat down on a white horse, as if drenched in milk, in a saddle embroidered with pearls.
In the camp of Kara Khan, no one heard her speak for three years. For three years no one saw her teeth in a smile. She didn’t cry for three years, she didn’t laugh for three years.
Suddenly one early morning Torko-Cacak clapped her hands and smiled cheerfully. A blue bull was walking along the road; a guy in a goat’s fur coat was sitting on the bull, with the fur facing up.
“Aren’t you laughing at him, Silk Tassel,” asked Kara Khan.
- Yes, yes!
- Dear Torko-Chachak, putting on a fur coat with the fur facing up is not at all difficult. I can ride the blue bull too. I'll cheer you up now.
Kara Khan ordered Balykchi to get off the bull and tore the goat's coat from his shoulders. Then, sniffling, he approached the blue bull and placed his left foot in the iron stirrup.
Moo, moo! the bull mooed and, not allowing Kara-khan to throw his right leg over the saddle, dragged him through the valleys and over the hills. All the peoples subject to Kara Khan stood around and watched.
Kara Khan's heart burst from shame. And Silk Tassel took the orphan Balykchi by the right hand, and the two of them returned to their green hut.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru