Baksu-batur lived with his wife. The name of his wife is Simfuni, who lives in the sun's rays as a beauty.
So Baksu lives and lives. Shoots birds and hunts animals. His wife was completely tired from work. Birds move in flocks, animals move in herds. But the wife turns the feathers of birds into birds, and the fur of animals into animals.
This went on for a long time. One day I filled Baksu with birds and returned home, planning to rest the next day.
- Well, beauty, rest tomorrow. Where are my children so that I can feed them enough after a successful hunt? What a problem if in one day of rest I eat half a barn of food!
I ate and went to bed. Fell asleep. In the morning I got up at dawn and cooked myself some food. He finished eating and turned to his wife:
- High boots, give me your knee pads, I want to go hunting again. My wife doesn't serve.
- Rest, what a problem if during a day of rest you eat one barn of food!
Then the good fellow brought high boots and knee pads himself, put them on and got ready to leave. He took a tight bow, hung a quiver of velvet wood on his shoulder, tied a huge spear to his belt, took dragon skis and iron sticks. Then he set off. Suddenly something jerked and he looked back. It turned out that his wife was holding him back by grabbing the end of the spear.
- What kind of trouble did you come to touch the thing with which you go to the taiga to hunt?
He got angry and pushed her so hard that she fell into the mud and remained lying on the ground.
- What made you go hunting and push your wife at the same time?
He took two or three steps back and his wife stood up. Then the wife says:
- Kill the animals and look for another wife! That night I had a dream: I saw a crow that brings misfortune, a rat that brings misfortune. I saw in a dream how an old man came along this river in a boat made of snags. How he then picks me up. When I thought about all this, I wanted to make you stay at home. Then the fellow stood up and said:
“In our dreams, too, we are killed by bears or raised to the tusks of wild boars, but in reality this does not happen.
And so the good fellow left, only his clothes rustled. The beauty then limped into the house. She unraveled her braids and combed them. I went out to throw out the water after washing my hair. When I went back in, I looked up and down the river. He sees an old man swimming from the upper reaches on a snag. The woman came in, sat down on the bunk, and filled her pipe as high as a chimney. Then she picked up her sewing kit and started sewing. Then, in order to see where the old man would land, she pierced the window on the front side of the house with a needle and watched. The old man wants to swim to the pier. His body is short - he looks like a plump man. Then he went up to the house. Entered. He sat down on the canopy opposite the door. He took his pipe and pouch and lit it. The beauty's house was filled with smoke, like fog. Then he stopped smoking, shook out his pipe and said to the girl:
- Hide the thing you really need under your arm, take the items you need on the way in your arm. Let's go.
The woman silently began to sew. The old man came up, stood opposite her, grabbed her, and pulled. If he pulls harder, she pokes the needle less often when sewing; if she pulls quietly, she pokes with the needle more often. Then she got angry. She wore one braid around her waist and wrapped the other around her head. She started fighting with the old man. If the old man is strong enough, he will drag her to the threshold; if the beauty is strong enough, then he will be dragged to the canal opposite the door. There is no edge of the can, no partition between the can and the stove, everything is broken. Finally, he carried the woman out of the house. Of course, a man, although old, is stronger than a woman. She took the bag with the sewing. Then we went and climbed up the snag. He planted the woman in front of the root of a snag. Rows with a two-blade oar. Behind us, only the water foams and moves noisily. How far or how close did we travel? The woman began to give birth. The old man says:
- The pier, otherwise your severu-uniru (boat) will be in the birth secretions. The old man answers:
- Okay, I have no sin, give birth there.
She gave birth to a boy. There is no knife to cut off his umbilical cord. Although she screamed to the old man, it was in vain. The old man rows and rows. Confused, she began to scratch his knees, but he did not hear. Only when she shouted in my ear did I hear:
- My knife is on a snag.
I walked along that snag. There was a chipping knife and a simple knife. I cut the umbilical cord and the baby started crying. Here the old man says:
- Give me a kiss.
After kissing him, he took it and threw it into the water. The beauty rides crying. So they drove and drove, and she gave birth to another child. Now I didn’t shout to the old man. She took a knife and cut off the umbilical cord. Then the old man asks to kiss the child again. He kissed him and threw him into the water again. The beauty cries and drives away. Whether they drove far or close, the beauty began to give birth again. She cut off the umbilical cord, took off her underdress and wrapped the baby. She tore her beautiful four-length belt in half and belted it around the child. She put one gold bracelet and one silver bracelet on his hands. She tore her silk scarf in half and tied it around his neck. Then the child began to cry. The old man took the child again, kissed him and threw him into the water. A child appears from this side, then from the other side of the snag from the water. The old man sticks a two-bladed oar into the water. The child has disappeared. Then, at the bottom of the river, it seemed as if a raven began to scream. Then the beauty sees that the silk scarf turns red. It turned out that her child was screaming, his voice could be heard:
“The hero Tundurkhen, who lives underground, drowned us in the water of the sea.” Even though you killed us, don’t be happy. When you bring my mother, don’t force her to sweep with the cross stick, and don’t force her to clean with the longitudinal stick. My father Tora-torg Baksu-Bator will not give in to you. My name is Lerenchu the hero. Wait for my arrival. On the water I will overtake the wave, I will pursue the warmth of your body.
So the child swam and swam with the flow until a wave washed him onto one pebble cape. Then he began to crawl along the bank downstream of the river. He found a dead catfish and began sucking its eggs.
The middle brother was also thrown out by the wave. He found a pike. He began to suck her calf.
And the one who sang was thrown out by the wave. Walking along the shore, I found Kaluga. Her milk was pumped to his fill.
“Oh, I moored here, and my brothers are below. I was the last one,” says the younger one.
Then it crawled along the bank, downstream. He sees Jaquez, the elder brother, having found a catfish and sucking its eggs. Larenciu says:
“I’m going to look for my older brother.” You wait here. Until we become adults, we will have enough to suck on the kaluga I found.
I met my other older brother. He sucked pike eggs. Then Larenciu says:
- Let's go to the kaluga that I found. Until we become adults, we will stop sucking it.
Then the three of us went there. They see a very large kaluga, they go in and out of its mouth. They play with stones, stack large stones.
One beauty came from above from the taiga and said:
“The current washed a dead kaluga to the shore, and I didn’t even know it. You can cook food from it.
Then she pulled out a woman’s knife from the narrow sleeve of her robe and cut the belly of the kaluga with a bang. When children ran scattered from the belly of Kaluga, the beauty got scared and walked back a few steps.
“If it were the devil, would he have allowed me to cut kaluga here?” These children are without a mother, and I am without children. So, I found children for myself.
Then she went back down and carried the boys home; approaching the house, he says:
- Let's go quietly, this place is full of devils. Let's go further. There was a small house on the way. They began to live there. We lived like this for several days. The older boy has grown big. Everyone played with an arrow and a bow. The older brother makes bows for the younger brothers. So they live and live. And one day their younger brother, Larenchu the good fellow, suddenly fell ill. He's rolling around in the can from stomach pain. Then the girl says:
- Seven probably sent an illness, we need to feed Seven, appease him.
The two older brothers call this beauty mother, but the younger brother does not. Then they began to persuade Seven. It became easier. Tomorrow we still need to treat Seven. The next morning we cooked buckwheat porridge. The buckwheat porridge was cooked and some fat was added to it. When the beauty served, Larenciu took her hands along with the porridge. He put her hands in the porridge and burned them.
The beauty screamed, calling on the sky and the sun. Larenciu then let go of her hands, deciding that enough was enough. Then the beauty, sobbing, got dressed. She took the best fabrics, the best silks, put on a sable hat, and put on fox mittens. The cigar, as tall as a chimney, was inserted into the mouthpiece of a long pipe. Then he comes out. One foot is on the threshold, the other foot is beyond the threshold. Then she started singing:
“I feel sorry for my body, it’s worth eighty lans that I carried you on my back, torturing it, it’s worth ninety lans that, by toiling my breasts, I forced you to suck.” Now I wanted to feed you buckwheat porridge, but you burned my hands. Live well after I leave. It's your fault that I'm leaving now. Who doesn't know you? You are children in the sunbeams of the living beauty Symphuni. Feeling sorry for you, I raised you until you became big. And for this she acquired misfortune.
The girl was about to leave. The two older brothers grabbed the hem of her clothes and cried:
- Mom, don't go!
The girl came out. Larenciu, the good fellow, went to watch her leave. When I left the house, I couldn’t see anything downstream or upstream. Then I looked up at the sky. There's something white sitting on a cloud, like calico. So she left. Then the brothers looked at their house, but there was no house at all. Younger brother says:
“We’re not at home, but can’t we manage?”
Then the younger brother, having cut off a four-fat talnik, marked out the ground. I drew a plan of the house, a place for the stove and bunks. Then he hit him three times with this waist and the three-story house stood in front of him. The brothers opened the door and entered. They see a boiler with steam, bunks, mats - everything is as it is. The house has become better than it was under the beauty.
This is how we began to live. How long they lived is unknown. One day we went to bed. Young Larench cannot sleep. He lies there, no matter how he turns, sleep does not come. That night, until dawn, I either slept or didn’t.
We spent the day and went to bed again in the evening. Again Larenciu cannot sleep. At night he went out to relieve himself: Somewhere an animal or something else was screaming. Better listen - the voice of a man can be heard from afar.
This is the copper beauty living on the copper mountain, the stepmother who left, complaining to Gagdanch the young man:
- The sons of Thor the trader Bakusubaatar burned my hand. While they are small, kill them. The old man with the copper nose sings:
- Until we arrive, don’t run away anywhere. The good fellow returned and went to bed. The next day I woke up early and got up. There is noise coming from the boat on the other side of the river. One slave came and said:
- Well, good fellow, our master requires you. The fellow hit him so hard with his fist that the slave’s head flew off, flew through the window and fell straight onto the table of the fellow Gagdanch, only his eyes were shining. Gagdanchu says:
- He killed my closest slave. Swearing loudly, he demands that the fellow go down to the shore. Gagdanchu the good fellow walks along the sides of his boat with a limp and says:
- Well done stranger, fight with me, don’t count the days and nights. When the two of us fight, on your side an iron cuckoo will scream on an iron pillar, on my side on a granite pillar a granite cuckoo will scream. Whichever of the cuckoos gets tired, the one of us will be defeated.
They fight like this for two or three days. Then the cuckoos began to call. So they fight, and they fight, and they’ll look at the knee-deep grass, after the battle they’ll look at the knee-deep snow. And so the young man grabbed the young Gagdancha well and threw him so hard that he split in half. Between these halves a young man appeared, who only began to enter with force, with a pair of arms and a pair of legs. This new guy says:
“Now it has become more convenient for you and me to take it.” They have been fighting for three years, the sun is not visible, there is such dust from the fight. Then, on Larenciu’s side, the cuckoo crowed. An echo was heard above. I looked at Larencha and some bird was soaring. Bird says:
- Why do you tease an innocent person? There is no reason for hostility at all. Why do you quarrel with a man because of a woman’s empty gossip? I can't help you even if you die. If I were a man, I would date him for some time.
Then the bird says to our fellow:
- Stop for a while! I'll throw a silver ball, I'll throw a gold ball. Don't drop it on the ground. Our fellow says:
- Well done friend, let me go, I want to urinate. Then Gagdanchu let him go. Then Larenciu came close to the bird. The bird threw a golden ball and a silver ball. Well done. Opened it. Inside was a newly born baby. He took it and carried it away. If the child pulls on one leg, Gagdanchu’s leg flies off. If the child pulls his hand, Gagdanchu’s hand flies off. Larenciu the good guy asks:
- Well done friend, why is your leg flying off? Gagdanchu says:
- Imitates.
Then Larenciu pulled the child’s head and Gagdanciu’s head flew off. That's how he died. After he was killed, there was no more swearing downstream of the river, and no more swearing upstream of the river. Now Larenchu abandoned the people he had killed. They came to life.
“Well, are my brothers alive or not?” he thought and went to look at his brothers.
The brothers are all alive. They say:
- Brother, we lived in fear for three years or some number of years, only the earth shook.
Well done Larenchu says to his brothers:
“Well, now let’s go look for my mother.”
Then we went on a boat to Gagdanchu the fellow. It is unknown how many days we traveled, but we reached our father’s villages. There is only wormwood and grass. There are no people, there is nothing. Then we drove past these places. Whether they drove far or drove close, they reached their village. Younger brother says:
- Our mother is here. Brothers, go get your mother.
Two young men stood up. A little later we went down. They brought the mother.
“The Tundurkha-hero living underground was immediately killed,” they say.
Then they put the mother in jail and went to look for the father. So they drove and drove; it was noon. In front, one bird flies straight towards the young man’s boat. While he was wondering where she would sit, she sat down on the bow mast. The fellow took the tight bow and stood up. While he was aiming, a bird sat down at the mast. The bird itself began to speak:
- Well done stranger, listen: before you shoot at me, before you kill, listen to me. I didn’t arrive without news, I didn’t rush in without anything to do.
Then he says:
- These are old matters. Now you're probably sad that your father died. And your father is looking for your mother, and his spear has burned everything down. And now your father is fighting with Senkeu the hero. Senkeu the hero's daughter Selkhen the beauty turned into a dog. That dog ate all the meat on your father's shins. And your father keeps fighting with him, fighting for three years. For this reason, for this matter, I came here. Go faster!
The young man took two spears, waved his hand several times - one turned into a bird, the other into a kite, and he flew. Whether he flew far or flew close, he reached one village. There was a birch tree to the side of the village. He sat on top of it. Sitting there, he hears something buzzing. This echo comes from my father's battle. Father says:
“My wife went somewhere to see someone and probably gave birth to a child.” Yesterday afternoon two birds flew and invited;
“Father, are you alive, will you be a matchmaker?” As these two birds flew by, the one who was gnawing on my legs was gone.
Then the young man went down between his father and that old man, turned into a man, separated them with his hand and said:
“I want to bow to my father.”
Then he bowed to his father. His father kissed him.
- Okay, father, go to some house and rest. I will fight.
Now the fellow began to fight. After making several circles, he grabbed his opponent tightly and threw him. When he fell, the young man kicked him. Then he sat on him and began to fight.
Here are three birds flying from the eastern side. The leading bird was very tired. Having circled over the young man, the first bird says:
“Well, well done stranger, you’re about to kill my father.”
And he says to his father:
“Father, even though you’re going to die now, don’t be offended by me.”
— Above the house made of pebbles, which stands on the roots of the clearing, there was a hillock that grew in the fall, small grasses that grew in the spring, a green hill the size of a fist, a piece of the hill the size of a palm. On this hill a poplar tree grows, covering the entire sky; the sun grows, covering a willow with three branches. Between these shoots there is a large snake. In the stomach of this snake lies the destiny of a father's life.
Two girls came and broke these shoots in half. Then they killed the big snake, cut open its belly and took the fate of the father’s life. Then the girls gave this fate to Larenchu the young man. Inside this fate there were gray and white eggs. Larenchu threw a gray egg at the old man's forehead, and the old man died. He put the white egg in his pocket.
At this time his brothers arrived. Father and mother burst into tears when they met. From the tears of the father a large river was formed, from the tears of the mother a small river. Selheni-maiden says:
“Put my father’s body in such a way that the wounds are not visible.”
She brewed various medicines. She anointed them, and the body grew together.
We set off back. So they drove and drove and reached the village of Tundurke the hero. Having captured it, we drove on, spent two nights on the way and reached home. A village was built on the old site. There were more houses built than trees in the forest, than grass. Three brothers have three houses, father has one house.
The brothers all got married. Now they kill birds, hunt animals, and live happily and richly.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru