Near the city of God, near the royal city, lives Equa-pyris. The two of them live near the city with their grandmother. His grandmother teaches him:
- You earn a living.
“I won’t hunt; the merchants and priests will still take what they got.”
Grandma says:
- What will we eat?
Equa-pyris jumped up and began to dance. It dances on the big toe and the little toe. Grandma says:
- Son, why do you live like this?
He will grab grandma and kiss her.
Equa-pyrys says:
- Grandma, I’m going to town.
Grandma says:
- Son, they will kill you. Big bosses live in the city.
He immediately got dressed and went into the city. Walking around the city. As he walked like this, a sled pulled up by three white horses pulled up. Looks - the main priest.
- Stop!
Pop stopped. Equa-pyrys says:
- Pop, give me your horses. Pop says:
- Why?
Equa-pyrys says:
- I bought flour.
-Are you coming soon?
- I'll come soon.
- Okay, take it.
Ekva-pyris got into the sled and rode off. Equa-pyris rides on three horses. He came to the priest and shouted:
- Your husband asked for money, come quickly!
- For what?
- I found a white horse. Wants to buy.
The Equa-Pyris grabbed the cash drawer. I went home and arrived. He killed all three horses. Grandma swears:
“Now you’ll be blamed.”
The equa-pyris is dancing. Three Cossacks came:
- Equa-pyrys, the king called you.
- Why did the king call? Okay, I'm coming.
Equa-pyris sat down on the sledge. I came to the king. Cossacks, priests, everyone gathered there. The priests say:
- Here comes a thief. Equa-pyrys says:
- The priests are completely clueless. I'm smarter than them. I live very well with God, they don’t know how. To say that I am a thief is a sin against God.
The king said:
- Carry him, lower him into the water.
They grabbed him and carried him away. The queen began to cry:
- Equa-pyrys is a very smart person.
The Tsar became thoughtful. The priests sewed Ekva-pyrys into a sack made of raw cow hide. The Cossack was ordered to guard. Equa-pyrys shouts:
- No need for gold money! No need for silver money!
Kazak said:
- Equa-pyrys, what are you talking about?
- There is a lot of money in this bag. Kazak says:
- Sew me into a bag.
The equa-pyrys got out of the bag and sewed the Cossack into it. A little later he hit him with a large club. He put on Cossack clothes. The priests came and began to lower the bag into the water. And from the bag a voice:
- I am a Cossack. The priests say:
“You deceived us and the king a lot.”
The priests drowned the Cossack, and Ekva-pyrys left. He stole three more white horses from the main priest and is riding around the city. The king looks and says to his wife:
– Look: Equa-pyris is still alive. His wife says:
- You can’t kill Equa-pyris. The king became angry. The equa-pyrisa was caught. The priests sewed him up again into a bag of raw cow hide and hung him on the church door. Wrote: There is a thief here. The main priest says to the other priests:
“You won’t be able to keep an eye on him.” I'll stay on guard myself.
The priests have gone. The main priest remained. Equa-pyrys says:
“I’m with God’s mother and God’s father.”
Pop says:
-What are you-doing?
- I'm here with the Mother of God.
- Sew me here.
Pop Ekva-pyrysya lowered down. The equa-pyris priest sewed up the bag and wrote: There is a thief here. Whatever priest comes, you will have to hit him with a club. Ekva-pyrys dressed in priestly clothes and left.
The priests came and read: There is a thief here. Whatever priest comes, you will have to hit him with a club.
The thief shouts:
- I am the main priest!..
The priests say:
– You deceived us a lot.
Each pop hit once.
Equa-pyris came to the king. Began to visit. He eats and drinks.
The king says:
- I’ll go, but you stay here. The queen found out: Ekva-pyris had come.
- I recognized you - you are Equa-pyra. They started talking. Equa-pyrys said:
– Shall we go for a walk with your husband? The queen says:
– I’ll tell my husband: Let’s go together, we need to take a walk! That's what I told my husband when he came. The king agreed. Three horses were harnessed. Let's go. Whether the journey was long or short, the queen said:
- Let's stop, this is a good place.
We stopped. Let's go ahead. Ekva-pyris says to the king:
- King, take off your clothes. Let's play. The king undressed. They started playing. The equa-pyris tore the king into pieces, and he himself dressed in royal clothes. The queen says:
- Let's go.
We arrived home. They began to live together. He became like a king. Gathered the priests. Says to the priests:
“You couldn’t kill Ekva-pyris, I killed Ekva-pyrys myself.”
The priests answer:
“We killed him ourselves.”
- Where?
- There.
We've arrived. They look: it turns out that they killed their main priest. Ekva-pyrys put all the priests in prison and went home; came. Says to the Cossack:
– Gather the people, I’ll tell you everything. People came. Equa-pyris began to say:
- The priests themselves are thieves. They killed their master. The poor people are greatly oppressed. Poor people cannot live like this.
And he became king. I began to look after the poor people well. A man floats up and down, spreading rumors about him:
- In this city of God, in this royal city, Equa-pyris reigned.
The Cossacks found out about this. Some say: Equa-pyris must be killed. Others say: It’s impossible, he is a very smart king.
Ekva-pyris gathered his people and began to say:
“I sat down in this city of God, in the royal city, to be known in fairy tales, to be known in songs.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru