One day, a man's children went hunting; there was a difference in years between them. They found old pots, many in a long row. The older one was scared of the pot, the younger one turned it over. He turned them all over, and at the end an old woman came out.
She said to the eldest: take me out. He refused. “She said to the younger one: take me out.” The younger agreed. The elder followed. They walked and walked until they came to a country where there was a tree with cattle; they were carrying an axe. “The old woman said to the younger one: cut down this tree.” He chopped and the bull came out; He cut it down, and a lot of cattle came out; then the ram came out; then the goat came out; then a white ox came out.
The old lady remained there. They both went, driving the cattle, walking with their dogs, with which they had been hunting. And they walked through a dry country, without water. Finally they climbed to the edge of the crevice and the elder said: tie me with a rope so that I can go and drink water in the crevice, for there is no way down to this place. And he tied it up. And he lowered him. Finally he lowered it; he drank and drank and satisfied himself; the younger one pulled it out. “The younger one said: tie a rope around me too, so I can get a drink.” And he tied him up. Finally he lowered it and left it there. The elder drove the cattle. He came home to his father and his mother. — One asked: “Where did you leave it?” “He answered: he returned first, but I went with the old woman, she gave me cattle. And they lay down.
Early in the morning a bird appeared, she said: chiyo, chiyo, chiyo; your child is thrown into the water. - People asked: do you hear what this bird says? - People said: let's follow her, she screams like a honey bird that calls people to the hives. His mother and his father followed her. So she walked and said: chiyo, chiyo, chiyo; your child is thrown into the water. She came and went down to where they were going down to drink water. She screamed from below. The father looked into the crevice and exclaimed: oh, who put you there? “He answered: I was abandoned by my brother while we were drinking water; I pulled him down first and pulled him out. He let me down and left me. For he refused to turn the pot over: and the old woman came out. She asked him to accompany her, to go with her to the country. He rejected it. And when he refused, she asked me to come. And I agreed. She did not then order him to cut down the tree; she ordered me to chop. And I cut down a tree, and cattle came out, and a sheep, and a goat, and a white ox. And she said that the cattle are mine, for me, the youngest. That's how it ended. And we drove the cattle. He left me in the water, he was afraid to kill me.
Then his father exclaimed: Oh! but what are we going to do, since you are down there in the crevice? “He said: find a rope at home, throw it here so that I can tie myself, I will tie it with another one left with me.” And the father returned, but his mother remained.
She threw him the food she had taken for the journey. His father walked and walked and came home, where he did not tell his son about this matter. He told another man to go get him out. “And they went, threw him a rope, he tied it and said: drag me.” And they pulled him out. And his mother cried. When he related what had happened on their journey, they returned and came home.
When they arrived, the elder brother had already run away; it is unknown where he went.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru