In ancient times, there lived a peasant with his wife. They had nine sons. One day my father got sick and thought: in case of my death, let me divide the property between my sons. And he divided it: to the eldest - a horse and a sleigh, to the second - a plow and a harrow, to the third - a rig and a flail, to the fourth - a cow and a milk pan, to the fifth - a lamb and a sheep, to the sixth - a boat and nets, to the seventh - a bow and a dog, to the eighth - a purse and an ax, to the ninth - skis and ahkivo.
[Akhkivo is a light sled in the shape of a boat, which the hunter took with him into the forest.]
“And if the tenth son is born, then he will get the house,” said the father.
And then it became known that a tenth child was to be born in the family. The brothers talked among themselves and decided:
“If a tenth son is born, we will have to leave our home.” It's better to leave early. Let's go to the forest, we'll live there.
And the parents were told that they were going hunting. They say to father and mother:
“We’ll go hunting, maybe we’ll stay for a few days.” If a girl is born, then place a spinning wheel on the roof, and if it is a boy, a scythe. As soon as we return from the forest, we will find out who we have - a brother or a sister.
And they left. Several days passed, the mother gave birth to a daughter. She remembered what her sons asked for and put the spinning wheel on the roof.
And the evil sorceress Suoyatar had already learned about the agreement and at night replaced the spinning wheel with a scythe.
Every morning the brothers went to the edge of the forest to see what was on the roof. And then they see that a scythe has appeared on the roof. The brothers were saddened, but what could they do if they decided not to return home if a brother was born? So be it. And they went far into the forest. Days pass, weeks pass. The girl grows and becomes prettier, but there are still no sons. Many years have passed, my daughter has grown up and has become so beautiful that she cannot be sung in a song or told in a fairy tale. One day she sees her mother take nine men’s shirts out of her chest, looks at them and cries.
My daughter asks:
– Whose shirts are these and why are you crying while looking at them?
Her mother answers:
- Oh, daughter, if you knew, you would cry yourself. You, daughter, had nine brothers, but you never saw them. Before you were born, they went into the forest to hunt and did not return.
My daughter walked around for many days, thinking, and came up with this idea:
- Give me these nine shirts, mummy. I'll go look for my brothers.
The mother cried:
- Oh, daughter, the only joy I have left is that you! You will leave and not return, like your brothers. How will I live then?
And her daughter tells her:
“Don’t be afraid, mummy, I’ll come back and find my brothers!”
The mother began to pack her daughter for the trip. She baked wickets and shawls, put nine shirts in her pouch and said:
- Take our dog Fifteen with you, daughter. It will be more and more fun on the road.
My daughter went with Fifty. They walked and walked along a forest path, and a woman caught up with them: an ugly face, a sundress made of matting. It was Suoyatar, but the girl didn’t know it.
- Hello, beauty! - says Suoyatar. - Apparently we are on our way. Let's go together, it will be more fun.
They went together. We reached the lake. And the day was hot. Suoyatar says to the girl:
- Let's take a swim!
Then Fifteen ran up to her owner:
- Woof-woof! Don't go swimming - there will be trouble! Suoyatar got angry, grabbed a stone, threw it at the dog and broke its paw.
The girl listened to her dog and did not take a bath. They move on, and Fifteen jumps after them on three legs. We approached another lake.
- Let's take a swim! - Suoyatar says again. And the dog is spinning around the owner, pulling at the hem:
- Woof-woof! Don't go swimming - there will be trouble! Suoyatar grabbed a stone, threw it at the dog, and broke its second leg. The girl did not bathe, took the dog in her arms, carried it, and she cried - she felt sorry for the dog.
They walked and walked, and again the lake ahead turned blue. Suoyatar says:
- Let's take a swim, it will be easier to walk! The dog barked:
- Woof-woof! Don't go swimming - there will be trouble! Suoyatar snatched the dog from the girl’s hands and killed her. The girl began to cry, walked on, and Syoyatar did not lag behind her.
They walk again for some time. And the heat is truly unbearable. A lake appeared ahead.
- Let's take a swim! - says Suoyatar. - I have no strength to go further.
The girl was completely exhausted from the heat and agreed. They began to swim, Suoyatar said:
- Let's dive and see who can stay under water longer.
The girl dove, and in the meantime Suoyatar jumped out onto the shore, dressed in the girl’s dress, and grabbed her purse with her brothers’ shirts. The girl had to dress in a Suoyatar matting dress. And she stuck a needle into her dress. The girl pricked herself with that needle and immediately went numb.
They walk along the path - Suoyatar in front, the girl behind her. A clearing appeared, and in the clearing a hut. They went into a hut, and in it nine young men were resting and sleeping.
Suoyatar sat the girl behind the stove, and she took nine shirts out of her purse, put a shirt at the head of each young man, and also put one on the gate. She herself sat down in the middle of the hut and waited for the brothers to wake up.
[Kalitki and shangi are cheesecakes made from unleavened dough. ]
The brothers woke up, stood up, and saw the shirts. They are surprised:
-Where did these shirts come from? After all, their own mother sewed them with her own hands!
They became cheerful, began trying on shirts, and then they looked - and each of them had a rosy gate at the head of their head. We tried it, it was amazing:
-What kind of miracle? In the whole wide world, only our mother knows how to bake such delicious wickets! Where did they come from?
Suoyatar giggled here:
“Didn’t you, my beloved brothers, notice me?” After all, I am your only sister, and I brought you gifts from home.
The brothers were delighted, they began to hug and kiss Syoyatar - they believed her.
Here the younger brother saw a girl behind the stove and asked:
- Who is this?
But the girl can’t say anything. He is silent and just cries.
Suoyatar laughs:
“Some wretched woman followed me along the way.” She's either dumb or a fool. Let him sit behind the stove. We'll send her out to herd pigs tomorrow.
Suoyatar began to manage the house.
Every morning Suoyatar sends a poor girl to herd pigs. He gives her a pie made of frog meat and slop in a birch bark tuesk with him to the forest. And before sending her into the forest, she takes out a magic needle from her gunny dress so that the girl can call pigs in the forest.
A girl is herding pigs and sees geese flying across the sky. She says to the geese:
You geese, little geese,
Wait, wait,
Listen to me, poor thing!
You fly, little geese,
To my dear home,
Tell my father, Ivan,
Tell my mother, Marya,
That their dear daughter
Nine brothers tend pigs,
Lives behind the stove
It comes out in tears.
And Suoyatar is in the upper room
Sitting on a red chair
Calls herself sister
Poor me, he pushes me around.
She gave me a frog pie in the forest,
I poured slop into the birch bark container!
In the evening, the girl brought in the pigs, and Suoyatar met her on the road. Unnoticed, a needle was stuck into her clothes - and again the girl could not say a word. He sits behind the stove and sheds tears. The brothers are surprised why this girl cries all the time. Suoyatar tells them:
- Why are you looking at her, surprised! She's a fool, obviously from birth.
The younger brother felt sorry for the girl; one day he secretly followed her into the forest to see how she was herding pigs there - mute. And this time Suoyatar quietly took the needle out of her dress so that the girl could call the pigs.
A girl is tending pigs and sees geese flying. She began to wail again and cry:
You geese, little geese,
Wait, wait,
Listen to me, poor thing!
You fly, little geese,
To my dear home,
Tell my father, Ivan,
Tell my mother, Marya,
That their dear daughter
Nine brothers tend pigs,
Lives behind the stove
It comes out in tears.
And Suoyatar is in the upper room
Sitting on a red chair
Calls herself sister
Poor me, he pushes me around.
She gave me a frog pie in the forest,
I poured slop into the birch bark container!
The younger brother heard this, ran out from behind the trees, and hugged his sister. She told him everything.
They drove the pigs together. And Syoyatar, as before, meets a girl on the road. The brother shielded his sister and said:
- For a long time, you, damned witch, tormented our sister - now you will answer!
The Suoyatar brothers surrounded. She shrank all over and trembled with fear.
And the sister says:
- Let him put on his matting dress and leave in good health.
The brothers did not contradict their sister. Suoyatar somehow pulled on her matting dress and ran away into the forest without looking back.
And nine brothers and a sister quickly got ready for the journey and went home to their father and mother.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru