A man rides past us on a motley reindeer harnessed to a Turkish sledge. He drives and drives and sees: another man is sitting on a hill, his head is open, he is not freezing. Our man drove up to him, and he asked:
-Where are you going?
“I am going by order of the king.” There is, they say, a picky daughter of the sun; he must bring her as his wife. Why are you sitting without a hat, what kind of person?
– I am an all-seeing and all-hearing person! - That's good! You might be useful to me, let's go together.
We got on the Turkish boat together and drove off. They drive and drive and see: a man sitting on a hill, holding a bow and two arrows in his hands.
- Who are you? - they ask. “I’m the kind of person who can kill anyone with these two arrows.”
- That's good! And we are going to pick up Solntsevo’s picky daughter. Maybe you will be useful to us, let's go together. All three went together. As they drive and drive, they see a man sitting on the edge of the laida (plain): he either rises or sits down, as if he is afraid of something. They approached him and asked:
- Who are you?
– Hush, hush, look: over there, on the laida, there is a female wild deer with a calf. So the king of this country, so that I would not be too frisky, tied one of my legs; That’s why I’m sitting here and amusing myself by grabbing this deer by the leg - That’s good! Come on, show off your dexterity! The man actually reached out and grabbed the fleeing female wild deer by the leg.
“It turns out you’re a clever man,” they said. “We’re going after the sun’s picky daughter.” Maybe we will need you; let's come with us.
All four went. They drive and drive and come to two mountains with snowy peaks. A man sits between them, and there is snow on his nose.
-What kind of person are you, and why is there snow on your nose? – I am a very strong person. As soon as I touch these two mountains with the end of my nose, it’s as if they never happened. - That's good! Come on, show your strength!
The man turned his head to the right and left, touched the mountains with his nose, and they immediately crumbled.
“We are going after the fastidious daughter of the sun, you might be of some use to us.” Won't you come with us?
All five went. They drive and drive and see: there is a high rock with a peak that looks like the end of a trochee. On this peak sits a man with his head uncovered, and the entire top of his head is covered in snow.
“What a miracle,” our travelers are surprised and ask: “What kind of person are you?” Why is your head covered in snow?
– If I shake my head, a snowstorm will arise, there will be sastruga (drifts)
- Come on, show me!
The man shook his head; a strong snowstorm arose.
“Enough, stop, you’ll kill us completely,” people began shouting.
The man stopped shaking his head, and the snowstorm died down.
“We are going for the picky daughter of the sun,” people say. “You might be useful to us, won’t you come with us?” I agreed. They drive and drive and see: in the middle of the snowy plain there is a round melt lake. A man sits next to him, his lips stretched forward.
-What kind of person are you? – our travelers ask.
“I’m the kind of person who can drink all the water of this lake at once and swallow along with it the two fish that swim in it.”
“Come on, show your skills,” they say. The man stretched out his lips, drank all the water of the lake and swallowed two fish that swam in it.
“We’re going after the sun’s picky daughter.” Maybe you will be useful to us. Won't you come with us?
I agreed. They drive and drive and come to one glass house. They walk around, the doors are locked, there’s no way to get in. They say:
“This must be the home of the sun’s picky daughter.” Come on, all-seeing, all-hearing man, look - who is inside the house?
The all-seeing and all-hearing man looked and said:
- There is one girl there. Then they say:
- Come on, man with a bow, shoot at the door! The man with the bow shot two arrows. These arrows bounced back with pieces of the castle at the ends. The door opened and all the people entered the house. The house inside, it turns out, is very bright, all made of gold and glass. A girl with copper jewelry is sitting.
-Where did you people come from? - asks.
– We are going for the sun’s daughter, please advise how we can find her. She is very picky, they say.
- How can I not point it out, I know about her; “I’ll just cook the food first and feed you,” she said and left.
She came in and brought in an armful of red copper firewood. She went out again and brought an armful of iron firewood. I lit the fireplace, smoke poured out, the fire rose, nothing was visible. The girl was nowhere to be found, as if she had never existed at all.
Somewhere in the distance her mocking voice was heard:
- So, poor things, they wanted to take the sun’s daughter! The fire became stronger and stronger, the clothes of our people began to catch fire. Said:
- Man with a bow, shoot!
The fire grew even larger when the man fired. Said:
- Come on, you who are grabbing a wild deer by the leg, put out the fire with your hand!
The one who grabbed the deer's leg waved his hand, fog appeared, and the fire flared up even more. Said:
- Come on, the one who makes a blizzard, make a blizzard!
A snowstorm arose, the fog cleared, the fire died down a little.
They said: “Come on, drinker of water, put out the fire!” The drinker splashed the water out of his mouth and extinguished the fire. But how can they get out - the door is locked! The man with the bow shot two arrows. The arrows bounced back, the tips bent, but nothing came of it. Then the man with snow on his nose ran his nose along the wall of the house, the house split in two, and everyone left.
“Come on, all-seeing and all-hearing man, show me where the sun’s daughter is.”
“The Sun’s daughter is laughing hard at us,” he said.
“Come on, man grabbing the deer’s leg, get it,” the people said. The man grabbing the deer by the leg ran far away and was no longer visible.
- Come on, all-seeing and all-hearing man, tell me what happened to our man.
“Our man would have caught up with the sun’s daughter, but his leg is tied.” Then the man with the bow shot two arrows and cut the ropes that tied the runner's leg. Again nothing was visible.
- Come on, listen, look and tell me, what happened to our man? - they asked.
“Our man almost caught the sun’s daughter, but she’s far beyond the lake, there’s no way to catch up with her.”
They decided to send a man drinking water.
- How will I go? It’s too far away, my legs are weak! Then the first man gave him his deer, riding it with a golden saddle. He went, drank the lake, and the fleet-footed one caught the sun’s daughter. All three returned.
We went along with the sun's daughter and arrived at the place where a man lived who was drinking water. The first man said to him:
- It's good that you helped me. Stay to live here, and from the fish you swallowed, let other fish multiply to feed people. Be the master of water!
We drove on and came to the place where the man who made the blizzard lived. The first man said to him:
- It's good that you helped me. Stay here, be the master of the blizzard and snow!
Let's move on. We arrived at the place where a man was sitting between two mountains. The first man said to him:
- It’s good that you helped me, stay here to live and be the master of the mountains. Have power over mountain beasts and send them to people for the benefit.
Let's move on. We arrived at the place where a man with a tied leg lived.
The first man said to him:
- It's good that you helped me. Stay and live here. If you are the owner of wild deer, feed people.
Let's move on. We arrived at the place where the man with the bow lived.
The first man said to him:
- It’s good that you helped me, stay to live here, be the owner, help the hunters.
We drove on and came to the place where the all-seeing and all-hearing man lived.
The first man said to him:
“It’s good that you helped me, stay here.” Be a master and give your children good eyesight and good hearing.
The first man went further with the sun's daughter, brought her to his land, and they began to live together. Since then the sun has been shining, and from its rays the whole earth receives life.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru