There lived an old man and an old woman. They had only one son. They lived in poverty. The old man fell ill and died. There is nothing to wrap the old man in to bury him. It’s a pity for the son to bury his father naked in the ground. He tore the beshmet, wrapped his father’s body, and buried it.
Time has passed. The old mother fell ill and died. He was left an orphan. It’s a pity for a son to bury his mother naked. He took off his shirt, tore it, wrapped his mother’s body in it and buried it.
The orphan was left alone in the grass tent. There is nothing to eat, nothing to do. The naked orphan got out of the wagon and walked along the first road he came across.
He walks along the road to where the wind blows, and he himself does not know why he is going. The naked orphan is tired, his strength is running out. Then the naked orphan thought that he was riding a horse, hit himself with his palms on his thighs - he ran, hit himself with his palms on his thighs again - he ran more cheerfully, and it was as if he was not tired.
Here the naked orphan sees: a Gelyung is riding towards him on horseback. Gelyung arrived and asked:
-Where are you going?
“Where they work and eat,” answers the naked orphan. And he told the Gelyung about his misfortune.
“The naked thing will come in handy,” the Gelyung thinks and says:
- Sit in the back of the saddle, I will find you work and food.
The orphan sat behind the saddle and rode with the Gelyung. They are driving across the steppe and see cranes flying and screaming. Gelyung says:
— Cranes are noble birds; they nibble only fragrant, juicy grass in the steppe. That’s why they shout so affectionately, pleasantly: kryk, kryk!
The naked orphan answers:
“The cranes don’t pluck any juicy grass, the cranes walk through the dirty swamp and eat frogs, that’s why they shout: Kurly, Kurly!”
Gelyung got angry with the boy. How dare this little peon object to him, the Gelyung! He jumped up from the mare and hit the orphan. The naked orphan could not stand it and rushed at the Gelyung. We fought and fought, made peace, and moved on.
They drove up to the lake, ducks were swimming in the lake. Gelyung says:
— Ducks are noble birds, God gave them good silk down and wide fins. That's why no one swims better than them.
The naked orphan objected to Gelyung:
- It has neither silk down nor fins, it is round, like a stick, and swims faster than your duck.
The Gelyung became furious: how dare the naked man object to him! Gelyung jumped up and hit the orphan. The orphan could not stand it and rushed at the Gelyung. We fought and fought, made peace, and moved on. Gelyung and the orphan went to the Khan's palace: Gelyung was the brother of the Khan's wife. The Gelyung began to complain to the Khansha about the orphan:
“I took pity on this little guy, took him with me, and he beat me.” Order him to be punished.
Hansha was evil, she ordered the execution of the naked orphan. The boy sees that things are bad. He says:
“You are ruthless, but you don’t know that the goat’s head of a khansha cannot interfere in the governance of your khanate; that’s what the ram’s head is for.” When the khan comes, let him execute you, but I will not accept death from you.
The Khansha became furious, but she could not object to the naked orphan.
The khan arrived, heard about the daring orphan and ordered to call him.
“How dare you,” says the khan, “beat up the Gelyung and curse the Khansha?”
The naked orphan told the khan why they fought with the Gelyung and why he scolded the khansha.
“You, khan, would have done the same as I,” finished the orphan.
The khan liked the orphan’s wise answer and decided to keep the orphan at his palace.
One day the khan summoned all his kelmerchi. The orphan also came. The khan gave each kelmerchi a sheep and ordered:
[Kelmerchi - sages, storytellers.]
- So feed the sheep so that their fat is not visible, but they are very fat.
An orphan came home with a sheep, found the skin of a wolf, stuffed it with straw and sewed it up. As soon as the sheep has eaten, the orphan will show her the straw wolf. From fear, the sheep will have all the fat in its body scattered.
The time has come, Khan Kelmerchi convened. The Kelmerchi came and brought sheep with them. The kelmerchi slaughtered their sheep - each sheep had fat hanging in the width of a palm. An orphan slaughtered his sheep - not a single bit of fat was visible. They began to cook the sheep that had been fed by the orphan - the cauldron was full of fat.
Another time, the khan called all the kelmerchi and gave each one a dog. The orphan also got the dog.
“Every kelmerchi must teach his dog to speak,” said the madman khan.
The orphan came home and began to teach the dog to talk. He puts food in front of the dog, doesn’t let it eat and keeps repeating: “Kezya, kezya” (when, when). The orphan taught for a long time. The dog is emaciated from hunger, but is silent. Finally the dog understood and barked:
“Kezya, Kezya.” Then the orphan gave her food.
The time has come, Khan Kelmerchi convened. The Kelmerchi came and brought their dogs with them. All Kelmerchi dogs are fat, angry, they rush at people, bark, but don’t say anything. Khan sees: the orphan’s dog is so thin that all the vertebrae can be counted. Khan says to him:
“You must have starved your dog.”
“No, khan, I fed her the best food,” answered the orphan, and he quietly showed the food from his pocket to the dog.
“Kezya, Kezya!” the dog shouted.
The Khan was surprised, the Kelmerchi were surprised that the orphan taught the dog to speak.
Since then, the orphan has become the most glorious kelmerchi in the steppe.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru