There was one chief in that country, he begat children who were ravens; he did not beget a human child; in all the houses he gave birth to ravens. But his great woman, she did not have a child, she was said to be barren; she lived a long time without giving birth - All the women laughed at her, even those who gave birth to ravens, saying: we ourselves are sure to give birth to only ravens, but you yourself have not given birth to anything. Why do you think man was created? - She shouted, saying: but did I really do this to myself / for you too are giving birth, since it was said “give birth”
Finally she went to dig; while digging, when the field was almost finished, two pigeons appeared; they found her alone, sitting on the ground, crying. — Said one
dove to another: “vukutu.” - Another said: why do you say “vukutu”, and don’t ask why she’s crying? “She answered: I’m crying because I didn’t give birth.” The chief's other wives give birth to ravens, but I gave birth to nothing. - One pigeon said: “Vukutu.” - Another said: why do you say “vukutu”, and don’t ask what she will give us if we force her to give birth? “She answered: I will give you everything I have.” - One said: “vukutu” - Another said: why are you saying “vukutu”, and not asking what kind of food she will give us then? - She answered: I will give you my bele grains. — One said: “vukutu.” - The other said: what are you saying, “vukutu”, since we don’t eat bele grains? - She answered: I will give you dumbi. - One said: “vukutu.” - Another said: why do you say “vukutu”, and don’t say that we don’t like dumbi. She named all the food she had. They rejected her. “Finally she said: this is all the food I have.” - One said: “vukutu”, you have bele grains; but we ourselves love castor bean seeds.—She answered: oh, I have castor bean seeds, my lords. — One said: “vukutu.” - Another said: why are you saying “vukutu”? Why don't you tell me to go home immediately and bring some castor bean seeds?
The woman immediately jumped up and ran home; she came, took the castor bean seeds, they were in an old pot, and poured them into the basket; she carried them; she went with them to the field. - She came and one dove said: “Vukutu.” - Another said: Why do you say “Vukutu”, and don’t order it to pour out on the ground? “She poured castor bean seeds onto the ground. The pigeons pecked them all.
When they finished, one said: “Vukutu.” - The other one said that you say “vukutu” and don’t ask her if she came with a horn and a knife? - She answered: no. — One said: “vukutu.” The other said: Why do you say “vukutu”, and not tell her to go get a horn and a knife? She ran, came home, took the horn and knife and returned immediately. She came and one said: “vukutu.” “The other one said: why do you say “vukutu” and not tell her to turn her back? — She turned her back. — One said:
“Vukutu.” — Said the other: “Why are you saying “Vukutu” and not scraping her on the lower back? He scraped it. And when he finished scraping, he took the horn and collected the blood clots there. - One said: svukutu. - Another said: why do you say “vukutu”, and don’t you order when you come home to find a large vessel, place blood clots inside until the two moons die and then open the vessel? “The woman returned, came and did just that.” “She spent two moons.” When the third moon appeared, she found two children. She took them out of that vessel. She put them again in another pot. She spent three moons without looking there. When she looked into the fourth moon, she found them large, laughing; she was very happy.
She went out to dig. She came to a hill and sat on the ground until the sun set, saying: Wonder how my children will live? Because other women laugh at me, but they don’t give birth to people, they give birth to ravens. At noon she returned, she came home. In the evening, when she went to bed, she closed the entrance with a door and a mat, saying: when any of the people pass by the door, he will not see anything. She sat down. When she saw that people were not wandering around the village, she got up, she took the children, put them on a sleeping mat, she took the milk and gave it to them; one, who was a boy, drank it, the girl rejected it. When she had been with them a long time, she put them back in their place and fell asleep.
Regarding their height, they both grew quickly; finally, they crawled on all fours, unseen by anyone; Finally they walked, their mother hid them from people. They lived without going outside, their mother forbade her, saying that if they went outside they would be seen by the crows and killed, for she was pursued by them in the house. For it happened that when in the morning she got up and went to draw water and went to dig, then when she returned at noon, she found water spilled all over the house, the coals thrown out of the hearth and the whole house white. She thought: this was done to me, for I did not give birth to these ravens, for if I had given birth, it would not have happened to me.
would like something like this; for I have been suffering like this for a long time and the husband who lives with me does not treat me like a person, because I have not given birth.
And both children grew until they became big. Finally, the girl became a girl; and the boy became a youth. “Their mother said: now you are both big, my children, but you don’t have names,” she said to the girl: you, your name is Tsom-betzantsini. “The boy said: don’t give me a name, for my father will give me the name of a man when I grow up; I don't want to be named now. His mother agreed.
It happened at noon, when their mother was not there, the girl said: let's go scoop up water, since the crows spilled our mother's water. “The boy said: didn’t our mother forbid us to go outside?” “The girl said: how will we be seen, since all the people have gone to dig?” - And the boy agreed. — The girl took a water pot, she went to the river, they both went. And this boy looked white; and the girl beamed terribly. And they set off, came to the river and scooped up water. When the pot was filled, she said to the boy: help me lift it. When he wanted to help raise her, they saw a large detachment of people going to the river. “People came and said give us something to drink.” He scooped up water with a ladle and gave it to the one in front. The other one also spoke and said: Give me something to drink. He scooped it up and gave it a drink. They all talked until finally he got them drunk.
They asked: what village are you from? “They answered: we are from this, at the top.” “They asked: is there anyone there?” - They answered: no, there is no one there. “They asked: what house are you from?” - They answered: we are out of this, the last one to exit. “They asked: which one belongs to the great woman?” - They answered: the great woman is our own mother; but since she did not give birth, her house was moved, it was placed at the exit. — The children asked: what tribe are you? “They said: we came from there, we are going, we are looking for a very beautiful girl, for our leader is going to get married.” - The children asked: what is he getting married
for the first time? - They confirmed. — The children asked: what kind of family are you? - They answered: we are from Huebu. - The girl asked: is your leader from Huebu? - They answered: no, just a man; we are alone Huebu. We are not numerous; we are just one squad. And they went to Khuebu.
And the boy helped her lift the water pot, they went up the hill, came home and sat down. “In the afternoon their mother came, having returned from digging; She asked: who collected the water? - They answered: we collected it ourselves. “She said: didn’t I forbid you to go outside?” But who ordered you: go get some water? - The boy answered: I myself rejected it, but Tsombetsantsini said: let’s go get some water. “Their mother asked: has no one seen you?” “They answered: the Khuebu, of whom there was a large detachment, saw us. They asked: whose are you? we answered: we are from this village. And they fell silent. They lived for many days. But not a single person knew about them; they were known only to Hueb.
One afternoon a lot of cattle came with a lot of people. - All the people of the village said: here is the army; where did it capture so many cattle? They saw many people walking towards the house; people left some of their livestock outside the village; with other livestock they entered the village. They came and drove the cattle into a pen, they went up to the upper part of the village, they came, stood up and turned to her father for the girl. And all the people of the village were silent, silent in surprise, thinking: where is the man who can come and choose the ravens? Since there are no man's daughters in the village. But they acted as if they knew the girl. Finally the women said: have you come to choose a girl from among ours? The woman whose daughter you came to choose with so many cattle will be glad.
And all the women came out of the houses, stood outside, some ran to the exit saying: hey, hey! Is a woman who has not given birth happy, because who are these matchmakers? mocking the one who did not have a child, because they did not know that she had a real girl; after all, they themselves gave birth only to ravens. The men came out in anger with the father of the ravens, cursing the women, saying: away, away! because of what your
Are you making a fuss about your daughters, since you only gave birth to ravens? Where is the man who will take so many of his cattle by ransoming the ravens? “The men said: quickly go home, stop this noise.”
The ruler of the village approached the matchmakers and said: I myself have no daughter. I gave birth only to ravens. Take your cattle, return home, go to your people. - They said: we ask you, we say, do not reject; for we know that there is a human maiden here in the house. “The lord of the village swore and swore, saying: There is no girl here in the house.” - Finally, the matchmakers looked at each other, wanting to ask Huebu, who came first; They asked: is it true that you saw a girl here in the house? - They answered Hueb: we saw her here in the house: we can show the house into which she entered. - They asked: which one? - They answered: to this one, which was moved to the end. “They said: we ourselves, leader, truly know your daughter, we can show you the house where she is.” - Said the leader, speaking in anger, he said: it’s true that these people are very wise! Since I myself am the father of children, I tell you, I say, there is no human girl here in the house. But you are arguing with me, you want to laugh at me, because I did not give birth to man. The owner of the house you are pointing to did not even give birth to ravens. - Said the woman of that house, when she heard her husband speak, as he spoke like this, she left the house, saying: here are the matchmakers for the leader’s daughter! Enter the house, let my sons-in-law slaughter your bulls. For although I myself did not give birth, you yourself saw that I gave birth. Her husband left his place and approached the house; he came and said: I thought that you did not have a child. But since you came out and made a fuss, does that mean you have a child? “She answered: if I didn’t give birth to a child, where could I get it from?” “He said: I ask, my child, tell me why you made a fuss?” “She answered: I made a noise because of my children, who have nothing to do with the man, but only with me.” — The husband asked: where are they? “She ordered: come out so they can see you.” The boy and girl came out. When their father saw them, he fell on the boy, he grabbed him, screaming, exclaiming:
how! how! However, do women have more endurance? How did you hide your children until they grew up without being known to anyone? “He asked: where did you get these children?” - She answered: they were given to me by doves; they scraped my lower back. A blood clot came out, it was put in a bowl, finally they became people, I fed them; I didn’t want to tell you, because the crows could kill them. And their father agreed, he said: which of the cattle will be slaughtered, since not a single goat should be slaughtered; it would be better for a young bull to be slaughtered with it. And their mother agreed. She left the house, she approached the matchmakers, laughing, rejoicing, saying: come out, so that I can show you your bull. The groom went out alone; she showed him a young bull. He was slaughtered and eaten.
The next day their father said: it would be better if the other one was slaughtered for the child, along with that bull, when she danced to her matchmakers. Her mother agreed. A bull was slaughtered. - Their father came out and said: it will be better if all the rituals of this child are completed, I want her matchmakers to go with her back to their place, because the crows can kill her. All her rites were performed and the goats were slaughtered, for on the day of her maturity they were not slaughtered for her, for no one knew her. She danced for the matchmakers, the bulls were slaughtered and the meat was eaten. “Her father said: put aside one leg, my children, so that as you walk, you and your wife can eat on the way.” The matchmakers answered: okay, our father, we ourselves want to go in the morning. They agreed on good terms.
Her mother said to the matchmakers: when you go and see a green beast on the way - it will appear on a hill - you do not drive it away; With this, let him go, then the matchmaking of my child will go well.
They set off in the morning. But two large bulls were chosen for the groom and his bride, and they were mounted on both, the warriors walked ahead of everyone, and behind them came numerous maidens, summoned from their father's village, they walked behind them. Finally they came to a hill and saw the beast that their mother had forbidden them to approach.
to keep them from killing him, she said. All the warriors ran and chased the beast. “The bride said: forbid them so that they do not chase the beast.” Didn't my mother tell you, she said, don't chase the beast? - The groom answered: oh, why are you talking? Let them chase him; no problem. The bride and groom, the girl and her girlfriends stayed there for a long time. - Finally, the groom said: oh, we are tired of standing in the sun, let me go now to return them and go. It's noon. And he went.
They stayed and spent a long time without seeing the groom; Finally the bride said to the other girls: I’m tired of standing, I’m thirsty for water. “When she was saying this, a lizard came up to them and said: I know you, beautiful daughters of the leader.” They answered. “The lizard said: come down and let me see if your apron suits me?” “She answered: I don’t want to get down.” - The lizard said: how! get off, you'll get back in now. Finally the bride got down. - The lizard grabbed the apron, belted it and said: it suits me very well! “She said: give me this blanket of yours so I can see if it suits me?” “She rejected it and said: I’m afraid of the sun, sister.” “She said: give it to me, I will give it to you right away.” She gave it. “She put on the veil and said to Zala: let me climb on your ox so I can see if it suits me?” “She said: get in, but get back down immediately.” And the lizard climbed in and she said: ha, ha! it really suits! - She said: get down. “She said: I don’t want to, I won’t get off.” She said: get off so I can fit in. - The lizard answered: you allowed me to get in; I won't cry.
And all the girls and the bride stood up; they turned into birds. The bride herself became a finch. They went to the forest and settled there, being birds.
The friends appeared with the skin of the beast, which they had skinned. They walked ahead. When they were far from the girls, the groom said: wow! how! People! Do you see the bride, what she looks like, how small and dark she has become? What happened to her? Where are the girls? - They said: oh, leader, maybe the girls were annoyed by sitting in the sun, and
Finally they went to their home; we see what happened to the bride from the sun, for she was not used to sitting in the sun. “He said: if so, it can be seen from the sun; my body has weakened, apparently this is not my bride. “They approached her and asked: where are the girls?” — The bride spoke as if her tongue was tied, speaking incomprehensibly, answering: they came back home.
And they went, the soldiers walking in front, and the groom with them, he walked with his soldiers in front, the bride remained behind, walking alone with the bull. When they were far from that place, they saw many birds sitting in front of them on the grass, they said: Kakaka, the son of the chief is coming with the little animal! They said: get away, he's hanging around with the lizard! - He said: how! People! do you hear these annoying birds, what they say? And have you ever heard talking birds? “They answered: oh, chief, that’s what the birds of the bushes do, they say.” And he fell silent. They were walking.
Again the birds moved ahead in front of them, they said: Kakaka, Kakaka, the chief’s son is coming with the beast! Be gone, he's hanging around with the lizard! But this really touched Kakak's heart. When they approached the house, the birds returned back, they remained in the forest, people entered the house, they all walked ahead, leaving one bride behind.
In the cattle pen there were many men sitting with the chief, Kakak's father. The bride entered, walking alone; she came to the upper part of the village. All the people who were in the cattle pen asked: who came with the son of our leader? “The leader spoke in anger, called him, he said: I’m here, my boy.” Kakaka went with fear, for he saw that his father was very angry. “The leader came up and asked: what is this that came with you?” Is this the same girl that Huebu called beautiful? “He ordered: hurry up, call everyone to come to me; all the Khuebu will be killed, because they invented a fable, saying that they saw a beautiful girl. - Kakaka said: No, chief, my father, and I saw the girl; she was very beautiful; Hueb was rightly told, for I also saw her, that she was very beautiful. - His father said: but what about her?
Then? - He answered: I don’t know. We were told at their house not to kill the beast while walking. But we killed him; when we arrived and returned after killing the beast, we found the girl like this. And their girls weren't there. We walked and I myself saw that this was not the same girl with whom I left home. And the father fell silent. They lived for a few days. But Kakaka forbade calling her his bride, saying that he would not marry. And now the time has come for him to marry a beautiful girl. “But all the people were surprised at this girl, saying: she doesn’t look like a person.” But there was an old woman here at home, in this village, she was without legs, with only arms, and she was sitting at home, her name was Khdesa; They called her because when she moved, she hobbled only with her body. When everyone left to dig, the girls appeared, turned into people and appeared in the house, appeared to Hlesa and asked; Are you right in saying that you saw girls here at home? - Khlesa answered: oh, no, my children, I’ll tell you where I could see people here, since I’m only Khlesa? - They came out; They took all the pots of the village and went to get water. They came to her, poured chuala to the whole village, poured and warmed water; they collected water and coated the floors in the houses of the village; They went, collected, brought firewood and laid it out throughout the village. They went to Khlesa and asked: Khlesa, can you tell me who did all this here? - She answered: I will say it was done by me, myself. - And they went, they went to the plain; When they arrived, they turned into birds again.
In the afternoon people appeared, all the women at home said: wow! who coated the floors here at home? did you bring water? did you get some wood? and ground chuala? heated the water? - Everyone went to Khlesa, called him and asked: who did all this? - She answered: by me. I dragged and dragged, I went to get some water; I dragged myself, I dragged myself, I collected firewood; I dragged and dragged, I pushed; I dragged and dragged, I heated up. - They said: how! was this all done by you, Hlesa? - She answered: ehe. “They laughed and had fun, saying: Khlesya helped us prepare beer for the whole village.” They went to bed.
In the morning they left to dig. All the girls appeared carrying firewood. - Hlesa said: ye, ye, ye! here is my father's daughter-in-law. It's good that my girlfriends are coming home. They distributed firewood to the entire village; they ground the ground chuala; they cooked for the whole village; they went and fetched water; they ground the malt to make lumiso; they mixed them. They went to Hlesa and they said: stay happy, our grandmother. “She answered: okay, my mother’s friends.” And off they went. After noon, all the women came home and again went to Khlesa, asking: who did the grinding? who cooked it? - Khlesa answered: I was dragging my feet, I was dragging my feet, I went to collect firewood; I dragged, I dragged, I pushed; I dragged, I cooked; I was dragging my feet, I went to get some water; I dragged myself, I dragged myself, I ground the malt; I dragged my feet, I mixed it up; I dragged myself, I came here to the houses, I sat down. “They laughed, saying: now we have an old woman who will work for us.” They sat down, they lay down.
In the morning the girls appeared when all the people were gone; but Hlese was sitting outside. They went to her and said: you are good, Hlese, for you did not tell anyone. “They entered the houses, they ground the malt, they kneaded the dough, they cleaned the beer that they had set to ferment the day before, they put leaven into the dough that they kneaded to make it ferment quickly. They collected the beer that they had purified into large round clay pots; they took one pot, they went with the beer that was in the pot to Hlesa. - When they arrived, they drank, they gave it to Khlesa, who laughed and rejoiced, saying: I will never tell, but you do what you want. They retreated again to the plain, turning into birds. In the afternoon all the women came and saw that all the dough was mixed. They said: oh, Khlese hides from us, when we ask her, we say: who did this? Let's keep silent. This is a harbinger of what will happen, will happen here at home.
But when it got dark, Kakaka went to Hlesa, he begged her, he begged her, saying: how! grandma, tell me
who made this? - Khlesa answered: by me, my child. - He said: how! grandma, you couldn't do this. Tell me who made this? “She said: at noon, when all of you leave, many girls appear; and there among them is the most beautiful girl; her body shines; and they made beer here at home.—Kakaka said: Oh! grandmother. They didn't say they would come tomorrow? Hlesa answered: Oh, they will come. - Kakaka said: and I will come tomorrow to see These girls. He said: but don’t tell them grandma. She answered: yes, no; I won't tell them. And they lay down.
In the morning all the people left to dig. The girls appeared; they entered the houses; they purified the beer throughout the entire village. When; They finished cleaning, they poured it into all the pots of the whole village; They took a very large round clay pot, poured beer into it, and collected it by the pot from all over the village. They filled this round clay pot. They left with him and went to Chlesa; they came and set it up; they took cow dung and coated the floors of the entire village; they cleaned out the entire village, collected firewood and laid it out in the courtyards of the entire village; they entered the house where Hlese was; took pots and drank beer.
When they had drunk a lot of beer, Kakaka came in; They saw him, got up and headed towards the exit, thinking to get out and run away so as not to be seen. He blocked the exit, asking: how! my father's child Tsombetsantsini; What have I done to you that you are so afraid of me? - Tsombetsantsini laughed, saying: eh, eh! leave me alone Kakaka! Was it not you who took me from my father’s village; came and left me on a hill; went with the lizard? - He answered: I saw that it was not you. But since I didn't see anymore, I didn't know what you did? - And they stayed, Kakaka rejoiced and rejoiced, saying: I said, I will soon die if I don’t see you.
In the afternoon people appeared. Kakaka set off, he went to his father, smiling with joy, saying: today, my father, the girl whom I lost on the hill has appeared. His father spoke, laughing with joy, asking: where is she? “He answered: here she is here in the house.”
His father said: tell all the people at home, order the men to rise up to immediately dig a hole here in the cattle pen; order the women to boil water in all the pots. And he ordered them. When everything was done, as ordered, all the women came out and galloped over that hole dug in the middle of the cattle pen; milk was poured into the pit; the bride was called; it was said: you too go to the cattle pen; all the people and women go jumping around the pit. This was done this way because it was said that if a lizard sees milk, it rushes to eat it. And they went to the cattle pen. “The bride said: I’m afraid to go to the cattle pen of the village.” “The people said: go, there’s no problem.” And she went; she entered the cattle pen. Other women were jumping and she was ordered to jump. And so, when she was about to jump, she saw milk, her tail came free, she rushed inside the pit, seeing milk. Then all the people got up, ran, took the water that was boiling in the pots, came with it and poured it into the hole. The lizard died.
They told all the people, saying: today the bride has appeared. The people rejoiced; people were sent, they were ordered to go around the entire tribe, tell people, order, gather for dancing - the leader was taken as a groom. In the morning, men and boys and girls and women gathered; dances were performed, and the bride and her bridesmaids danced; A lot of livestock was slaughtered and they ate it for many days.
The leader ordered: let them cut the rods for Kakak's house. Rods were cut for it, it was immediately built; it was a very large house; the bride was legitimized, it was said that she was a great woman. The girls picked grass, they covered the entire bride's house, and they set off and returned to their own. She stayed and ruled alone with her husband.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru