He lived near the mouth of seven rivers in the Oskus region - an orphan boy. From an early age he worked for rich people and earned only one red mare. Oskus-ool began to graze her and groom her in every possible way. And a year later the mare brought him seven bay horses. Oskus-ool was happy: now he has cattle too!
But he was not happy for long. A wolf came at night and ate one bay horse. Oskus-ool moved to another place, to the mouth of six rivers. But the wolf came running here and ate another bay horse.
Oskus-ool set off with his five bay horses to a new place, to the mouth of five rivers. He himself thinks: “This wolf will not come running here!”
But the wolf came running and again killed the bay horse... So he ate six bay horses of Oskus-ool one after another.
Oskus-ool has only one horse left. Oskus-ool got angry and decided to hunt down the wolf. He lay down at night next to his last horse and began to wait.
On a dark night, a wolf came running, attacked the horse, knocked it down and began to gnaw it. Oskus-ool jumped up, grabbed the wolf by the neck and said:
“You fell into my hands, your insatiable eyes!” You ate my bay horses, and I don’t want to walk: now carry me yourself.
And before the wolf could click his teeth, Oskus-ool overwhelmed him with his strong lasso. The wolf sees that he cannot escape, his death is coming, he began to beg Oskus-ool:
“I’ll do whatever you tell me, just don’t kill me!” If you want to get paid for your horses, follow me!
Oskus-ool took the end of the lasso and followed the wolf. The wolf led him, led him through the taiga, and through the mountains, and across the steppe, and through the karaganniks. Finally they crossed the yellow ridge and came to a large white yurt.
“In this yurt,” said the wolf, “my father, the khan of all wolves, lives.” He will offer you various gifts, but you don’t take anything. Say: “Give me a small red dog, a skinny lamb and the three top poles from your yurt; I don’t need anything else.” If you listen to me, you will live happily and richly.
Oskus-ool entered the white yurt and saw a big old wolf sitting. Oskus-ool bowed to him and said:
- Hello, venerable old man! Are you as healthy as your cattle?
- How is your health, friend? Are your cattle okay? - asked the old wolf.
“I myself am healthy,” answered Oskus-ool, “but I have no cattle.” There were seven bay horses, but your son ate them all. So I came to you with a complaint about him. How will you pay me for my horses?
The old wolf said:
“Would you like to take my herd of horses?”
“No,” answered Oskus-ool, “I don’t need your horses.” Your son will come running and bite them to death.
“Then take my herd of camels and camels,” the old wolf suggested.
But Oskus-ool refused camels and she-camels.
“If you don’t need camels,” said the old wolf, “take as many bulls and cows as you want.”
Oskus-ool did not take the bulls and cows, and he did not want to take the flock of sheep.
- What will you take then, friend? - asked the old wolf.
- Give me your little red dog, your skinny lamb and the three top poles from your yurt! - Oskus-ool demanded.
- What are you going to do with them? - asked the old wolf.
Oskus-ool answered him like this:
“I’ll tie the poles together with their upper ends and stick them into the ground, so I’ll have my own little yurt.” I will herd a skinny lamb, and a little red dog will run after me everywhere.
“Okay,” said the old wolf, “I’ll give you everything you ask!”
And he gave Oskus-ool the three top poles from his yurt, a small red dog and a skinny lamb.
Oskus-ool thanked the old wolf and wanted to leave. The old wolf looked at Oskus-ool and laughed loudly. Then he looked at his gifts and cried bitterly...
I crossed Oskus-ool over the yellow ridge and set off. He walked for a long time and came to some deserted place. He stopped, tied the ends of the poles together, stuck them into the ground and lay down under them. He placed the small red dog next to him, and let the skinny lamb go to graze. He did all this, then undressed, took off his shoes and fell fast asleep.
Early in the morning Oskus-ool woke up, opened his eyes, looked around - he couldn’t understand anything! He lies in a large new yurt. The yurt is all covered with sherdaks - soft felt. There are large chests around, decorated with silver. In the middle of the yurt, a fire is burning in the hearth, and a girl of unprecedented beauty sits near the fire, brewing tea.
-Who are you? - asks Oskus-ool.
- I'm your wife.
— Whose yurt is this?
- Ours. Get up, Oskus-ool, let's drink tea!
“I’ll get up,” Oskus-ool answers, “just give me my robe—there it is, lying at the entrance!”
The girl picked up the tattered old robe, threw Oskus-oolu - a new, silk robe fell at his feet. She threw away her old, worn-out boots - new, embroidered ones fell at Oskus-ool’s feet... Oskus-ool got dressed, left the yurt, looked - herds of horses, herds of camels, cows, sheep were walking...
-Where did all this come from? - asks Oskus-ool.
The girl laughed and said:
- You received good gifts from the old wolf!
So they began to live together. Both are young, both are beautiful and happy, they have everything - a white new yurt, smart clothes, horses, camels, cows, sheep...
How long they lived - who knows, only one day the son of Karatta Khan came to these places to hunt. He entered the yurt of Oskus-ool, saw his young wife - he lost his senses; fell: she is so beautiful! People have never seen such beauty, they only heard about it from old people when they told fairy tales in yurts on winter evenings. Oskus-ool had such a good and beautiful wife!..
Oskus-ool's wife approached the khan's son, sprinkled him with water, lifted him and leaned him against the pillar of the yurt. She asks:
- What happened to you? Have you never seen people?
The son of Karatta Khan did not answer her. He jumped on his horse and rode off.
He galloped to his yurt, stopped, did not enter the yurt, cried, sobbed, roared, moaned.
Karatty Khan and his wife ran out of the yurt, questioned their son, calmed him down, and begged him to enter the yurt. But he doesn’t listen to them, stomps his feet and shouts only one thing:
“If you want, father, for your son to live, take away his wife from Oskus-ool right now, and kill him!” I want her to become my wife! If you don’t take it away, I’ll stab myself with a knife!
“Calm down, my son,” says Karatty Khan, “by cunning or force I will take the wife away from this Oskus-ool!” I can’t kill him, but I’ll take his wife away!
Karatty Khan called one hundred and fifty of his warriors and ordered them to gallop to Oskus-ool:
- This won’t go well, drag him by force! The warriors galloped to the yurt of Oskus-ool and conveyed to him the order of Karatty Khan.
- What should I do, my wife? - asks Oskus-ool.
“Go to Karatty Khan and find out what he needs from you,” said the wife.
They brought Oskus-ool to the Khan's yurt. Karatty Khan says: “You and my son will hide from each other three times.” If he finds you, you will give him your wife. If she doesn't find it, she will stay with you. Tomorrow morning my son will come to you!
Oskus-ool returned to his yurt in great grief. He told his wife what Karatty Khan was up to. “They’ll take you away,” he says, “but I can’t live without you...”
“Don’t worry,” his wife consoled him. “Let the Khan’s son look for you!” Let's see if he finds it!
“Where can I hide from him,” asks Oskus-ool, “in the mountains, in the cliffs?”
- No, he will find you there. I’ll hide you myself, but now lie down and sleep peacefully! In the morning, the wife turned Oskus-ool into a needle and sat down to sew. She looked out of the yurt and saw dust standing over the steppe: the khan’s son Oskus-ool was looking for him. He searched, galloped over everything - the steppe, the mountains, the cliffs, and the forest - and rushed to the yurt. He began to search in the yurt - he opened all the chests, lifted all the felts, examined all the cups.
He rushes here and there, but can’t find it...
- I can’t find it! - he says. “Where is your husband, tell me?”
Then Oskus-ool’s wife imperceptibly threw a needle on the floor, pointed with her hand and said: “Here he is!” Oskus-ool appeared before the Khan’s son and said:
- You didn't look well! Now I will look for you! The Khan's son galloped off to his aal1 to hide. And Oskus-ool became sad and asked:
- Where will I look for him? Where should I go - to the steppe or to the mountains?
- You shouldn’t look for him in the steppe! - his wife answers him. “Go straight to the khan’s yurt.” If you see silk robes there, grab them and tear them. This is how you will find the son of Karatta Khan!
Oskus-ool galloped to the Khan's yurt, entered it, and saw silk robes lying in the corner. He didn’t immediately approach them - first he looked around the entire yurt, and then let’s tear off the robes! He tore one robe, tore another, and when he took the third, the robe cried pitifully:
- Don’t tear it up, Oskus-ool! Don't tear! I almost tore my hand off! It hurts me! After all, it’s me, the son of Karatta Khan!..
Oskus-ool looks - the robe is no longer there, the khan’s son is standing in front of him and says to him:
- Well, now it’s your turn to hide. Go! Oskus-ool galloped to his yurt and began to think: where could he hide? And his wife says to him:
- Be a piece of coal!
She turned Oskus-ool into a coal, and she sat down by the hearth and began to stir the coals.
The son of Karatta Khan rushed in. He looked all around, groped, rummaged three times - he couldn’t find Oskus-ool! He was tired, exhausted and began to ask:
- Tell me, where did your husband hide? I still can't find him!..
-Can't you see him? “He’s sitting near the fire,” said Oskus-ool’s wife and quietly threw away one coal.
The khan’s son looked - however, Oskus-ool was sitting on the felt, laughing at him.
“Now,” he says, “it’s my turn to look.” Go, hide better!
The khan's son turned green with frustration, jumped on his horse, and galloped to his father's yurt.
And Oskus-ool asks his wife:
“Will I find Karatta Khan’s son this time?”
“Finding Karatta Khan’s son is not a difficult matter at all,” his wife answers. “Run quickly to Karatta Khan’s yurt.” There are three black sable hats there. Take the middle one and rip the fur out of it. Then the son of Karatta Khan will be found!
Oskus-ool did just that. He ran into the yurt of Karat Ty Khan, looked around and saw three black sable hats. He grabbed the middle one and began to tear out the fur. Suddenly the hat screamed in a plaintive voice:
- Oh, stop it!.. Oh, don’t tear off my ears!.. And at that very moment the hat turned into the khan’s son.
“You found me, Oskus-ool,” he says, and he almost cries with frustration. “We’ll hide for the last time!” Run to your home!
Oskus-ool came running and said to his wife:
-Where should I hide now? Maybe in talniks, near the river?..
- No, he will find you there! I'll turn you into a comb.
The wife turned Oskus-ool into a comb and began combing her hair. Then the son of Karatta Khan ran into the yurt and began to search. I searched for a long time, I was exhausted, tired, but I couldn’t find it anywhere and said:
- Come out, Oskus-ool: I can’t find you!..
- Why does he need to go out? - says Oskus-ool's wife. - Here he is!
She waved her hand - the comb fell and turned into Oskus-ool. The son of Karatta Khan turned white with anger.
- Wait! - shouts. - I have to hide again! Come on, try, find me now! He said and galloped off to his aal. Oskus-ool's wife says:
- Now don’t look for him in the yurt. Go to the river, to the pasture. The khan's herd grazes there. A dirty brown bull walks behind the herd. Grab it by the tail and twist it with all your might. Then the Khan's son will be found!
As his wife said, so Oskus-ool did. He galloped to the river, grabbed the dirty brown bull by the tail and started twisting it as hard as he could. The brown bull shouted in a human voice:
- Let go, Oskus-ool, it hurts me! Oskus-ool looks - the dirty brown bull is gone, and in front of him stands the son of Karatta Khan, out of shame and
shaking all over with anger... He ran away with dark thoughts! he goes to his father’s yurt and let’s roar, moan, howl and | shout:
- Harass this Oskus-ool as you wish! As you know, take his wife away from him!..
Karatty Khan began to think. I thought for a long time, but as soon as I decided, I sent messengers for Oskus-ool and ordered him to be brought right away.
They brought Oskus-ool.
Karatty Khan tells him:
“You defeated my son, that’s true!” Now go and count how many hares live in the forest and on the ridge. If you don’t count, I’ll order your wife to be taken away from you.
Oskus-ool returned to his yurt sad.
- What kind of grief did you have? - asks his wife.
- Karatty Khan ordered me to count all the hares that live in the forest and on the ridge. How can I count them?
“Don’t worry,” said the wife, “lie down and sleep peacefully, and tomorrow morning you will go into the forest.”
In the morning she mixed flour and salt in a cup, woke up Oskus-ool and said:
- Go into the forest, put this cup under the tree, and hide and listen carefully!
Oskus-ool came to the forest, put the cup under a thick tree, and hid himself. A little time passed, a big hare came running. He began to eat flour and salt, and when he had eaten everything, he said:
“Eighty thousand hares live in the forest, sixty thousand hares live on the ridge, and none of them have ever found such delicious food!”
The hare ran away, and Oskus-ool came to Karatty Khan and said:
- Eighty thousand hares live in the forest, sixty thousand hares live on the ridge. If you want to check it out, check it out!
Karatty Khan listened and said:
- You found out. Now go to the mountain ridge. A big old bear lives there. Find out how old he is. If you don’t find out, you’ll be left without a wife!
Oskus-ool came to his wife sadly. She asked him what Karatty Khan demanded this time, and said:
- Go to bed and rest. Tomorrow morning you will go to the mountain range!
Oskus-ool fell asleep, and his wife got down to business.
She made sixty small dolls, dressed them all in fur hats and silk robes, and put them in a sieve. In the morning she woke up Oskus-ool and said:
- Go to the mountain ridge, find the old bear’s den and place this sieve next to it, and hide behind a stone.
Oskus-ool climbed the mountain ridge, found the den of the old bear and placed a sieve with dolls near it. And he hid behind a large gray stone. Sits and waits. Soon the bear crawled out of the den, walked up to the sieve, examined the pupae and said:
“I’ve been living in the world for sixty-two years now, I’ve seen a lot of things, but I’ve never met such a small people!”
He said this and again climbed into his den. And Oskus-ool ran to Karatty Khan. He came running and said:
“The big old bear is sixty-two years old.” He said it himself!
Karatty Khan became angry. He released Oskus-ool and began to gather an army:
- Let's go and take his wife from Oskus-ool by force! Let's get ready and go. Oskus-ool saw them and said to his wife:
- Apparently, my death has come! Karatty Khan is coming here with his army!
The wife smiled and said:
- And Karatty Khan will not come to us, and he will not return to his aal!
She brought out a small iron box, opened the lid and placed it in Karatta Khan’s path. Water gushed out of the box, overturned Karatty Khan, his son, and the entire army, and carried them far out to sea... All the khan’s cattle were taken by the poor from the nearby halls. And Oskus-ool had no enemies, and he lived for a long time with his beautiful and wise wife
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru