Old man Bayashal lived with his old woman. He caught fish and ate that. But the old man was so powerless that even the fox offended him: she took away half of his catch. One day a guy came to him. -What kind of person are you? - asked the old man.
Dyau told who he was and invited the old man to try his strength and fight. And if the old man turns out to be stronger, he will receive from him a piece of gold the size of a horse’s head and a piece of silver the size of a ram’s head.
“It’s not worth fighting,” said the old man, “when you fight, you can tear each other’s clothes.”
And Bayashal suggested trying force in another way. Dyau agreed. They went into the forest. So the old man says to the giant:
- Let's pull the trees by the roots! Let's see if you can pull it off?
The giant began to pull the trees and pulled out a lot. There is only one large forest left.
“Well, pull this one out,” said the old man.
The giant tried, but could not pull it out. Then he turned to the old man:
“If you pull out this tree, it means you are stronger than me.”
The old man approached the forest and began to feel the roots.
- What are you doing? - Dyau asked.
“But I’m looking to see if the roots of this forest go deep into the ground,” answered the old man.
Bayashal felt the roots, dug the ground around them and said:
– The roots have gone far – across seven soils. Many animals and insects live near the roots. If I pull out this forest, then everyone will have to be disturbed. And if this tree falls, it could knock out the eyes of either the sun or the moon. If the moon's eyes are knocked out, then it will be dark at night - and theft on earth will intensify, and if the sun's eyes are knocked out, then eternal darkness will come.
The giant listened to the old man and said that it would not be good if the nights became moonless and the sunlight disappeared.
“Well, in that case, let’s try force otherwise,” said the old man. “Let’s see which of us can squeeze the water out of the stone.”
Dyau agreed. Then the old man quietly took the egg and the stone in one hand and squeezed with all his might. The egg was crushed, and the giant thought that water flowed from the stone.
Then the dyau took the stone and began to press, but no matter how much he pressed, there was no water.
“And now,” said Bayashal, “who will squeeze the intestines out of the ground?”
The old man still had sheep intestines; he buried them in the ground. He brought the boy to this place, saying that here is the belly of the earth. Bayashal began to trample the ground and pulled out the intestines. The giant was surprised: he had never seen such strength. Then he began to crush the earth with his feet, but there were no intestines. And then he had to admit that the old man was stronger than him. He gave the old man a piece of gold the size of a horse's head and a piece of silver the size of a ram's head. Bayashal could not take home the gold and silver and again resorted to cunning:
“If I bring gold and silver home myself, then perhaps they will say that I stole it.” If you really want to give me a gift, then give me gold and silver when we get home.
The giant agreed. So they came to the yurt. The old man said to the old woman:
- Come on, old woman, cook the meat.
“What are you talking about,” said the old woman, “you yourself know that we have nothing.”
- How is there nothing? – Bayashal was surprised. - Put the head of yesterday’s giant and the brisket of that time into the cauldron. But if it’s not enough, then add all this too.
When Dyau heard this conversation, he got scared, threw the gold and silver and ran away from the yurt, so quickly that he carried the doors of the yurt on his shoulders. He runs, and a fox meets him.
-Who are you running from like that? - the fox asks Dyau.
He told her that the old woman and the old man wanted to cook him. The fox laughed: what strength does the old man have if she takes away half of his catch? The giant did not believe the fox. Then the fox said to him:
– If you don’t believe me, let’s go! I'll show you. Hold on to my tail so you don't fall behind.
Dyau agreed. He grabbed the fox by the tail, and they went to the old man. The old woman saw them and said:
- Oh boy, old man, the end has come for us! The fox leads Dya to our yurt. What to do?
“It’s okay,” says the old man, “we’ll think of something now.”
He came out of the yurt and shouted loudly:
- Ahh! You, fox, paid your debt to the giant for the first time and now you have brought the giant! Okay!..
And the old man ran to the devil. He got scared, picked up the fox by the tail and began waving it, defending himself from the old man. And so he smashed the fox's head until she lost her breath. And the giant himself ran away.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru