There lived two brothers, two people. One was rich, the other was poor. The poor man has only an old tent and an old mother. And the rich man has nine thousand deer, they are grazed by nine shepherds who live in nine tents. Moreover, the rich man has a large tent in which his nine wives live. And the poor brother has no wife.
One day a poor man came to a rich man to ask for food. He had absolutely nothing left. Rich says:
- There is no peace! I'm tired of you! When will you have your own food?
He kicked me out and didn’t give me a single piece.
The poor man returned home. Hungry, he and his mother went to bed. The next morning he went hunting. What kind of hunting is it on an empty stomach? There is no strength to walk far, but there is no animal to walk close. He returned without any spoils. And the next day again without production. And on the third...
His mother went to the ice hole for water. He looks at a giant standing on the other side of the river.
He also noticed the old woman. On his huge skis he walked up one or two times.
- What are you doing, grandma?
“I came for water,” the old woman answers. “When my son returns from hunting, he’ll at least warm his cold belly with boiling water.” We haven't eaten anything for a long time. He has no luck hunting.
The giant thought. And then suddenly he stuck his hand into the hole. When he pulled it out, there was a large fish on each finger. They stuck to his fingers. The giant shook the fish onto the snow and said:
- Here, take it, cook it, eat it yourself, feed your son. Tell your son: let him fish like me.
The giant said goodbye and went to the other side of the river. I took two steps and there I was.
The old woman cooked the fish. The son has returned. Again I didn’t bring anything. The old woman says:
- Look at the fatty fish I cooked. We haven't eaten for a long time, now we'll eat enough.
The son was surprised:
- Mother, how did you get such a fish?
The mother told about the meeting with the giant. The next morning the poor man went to the ice hole. He put his hand there, as the giant did, and immediately felt his hand being pulled down. He pulled his hand out with difficulty: a large fish was stuck to each finger. He and his mother began to live well.
One day the son says:
“Mother, you cook the fish, and I’ll go visit the giant.”
He followed the ski trail to the other side of the river. I walked for a long time and then I saw a huge plague. He stopped near the chum, took off his skis, and entered. A giant was sleeping on one side of the plague. His wife was sitting next to him. On the other side of the chum sat a stone old man and an old woman with their mouths open. The giant's wife saw the guest and began to wake up her husband. But he didn’t wake up. Then she hit him on the head with the handle of the knife. The giant jumped up. He saw the poor man and said:
- It's good that you came to visit me. “Then he looked to the side and shouted: “My skis, my belt, my lasso, where are you?”
At the same moment, skis approached him, a belt and a lasso crawled up, the belt wrapped around his huge belly, and the lasso was wound around his arm. The giant got on his skis, and they themselves took him towards the stone old man. The giant drove into the mouth of the stone old man, and came out of the mouth of the stone old woman. Under his arm he held a fat young important woman1. He threw the carcass on the floor and threw his knife up. The knife instantly skinned the carcass and cut the meat into pieces. The pieces jumped one after another into a cauldron of boiling water. The meat is cooked.
The giant said:
- My guest, eat, help yourself!
The poor man ate several fatty pieces, quickly ate his fill and said:
- Thank you. I feel how much strength has increased in my hands, how agility has increased in my legs.
The giant called his daughter and said:
“I give you my beautiful daughter as a wife.” Am I giving away a wonderful bag with it? It contains your wealth. But you can untie it only in your plague. If you don’t endure it, if you untie it earlier, your life will become worse than before.
The poor man and his bride went back to their tent. The poor man is carrying a bag, and it is skinny, as if completely empty. What wealth is there in it?
They are walking across the river. Suddenly voices were heard from under the ice and a loud song was heard. This is what the water devils sang:
Wait, poor man, wait!
Your bag is empty!
Untie the strap
Look into the bag
Take a look at it -
There's nothing there!
But the poor man did not listen to the devils and did not untie the bag. He and his bride came home. Then only the poor man untied the bag. A cloud of gadflies burst out of him. They flew out through the chimney. The poor man with his bride and mother ran out of the tent. What's happened? There’s a plague of deer all around – you can’t count them! These giant gadflies turned into deer. The younger brother became rich, richer than everyone else in the tundra.
The elder brother, a rich man, immediately ran to him.
- Tell me, brother, how did you suddenly get rich?
The younger brother told everything as it happened. The older brother ran to the ice hole. I put my hand in the water, held it for a long time, pulled it out - there were no fish. Then he got on his skis and ran towards the giant. The giant brought him a fat important thing too. The older brother ate and ate until he had eaten it all.
- Oh, I’m full, it’s hard for me, I can’t get up. I'll sleep with you.
Giant says:
“I didn’t invite you to sleep.” Go to sleep in your tent.
“Okay, I’ll go,” says the elder brother, “just give me your daughter as a wife and a wonderful bag.”
Giant says:
“I won’t give you my daughter, you already have nine wives.” I'll give you the bag, take it. - And he gave the rich man a skinny bag, seemingly completely empty.
The rich man grabbed him and ran home heavily. In the middle of the river, voices were heard from under the ice. This is what the water devils sang:
Oh, you are stupid, rich man,
You've become stupid from luck.
Don't rush, rich man, wait,
After all, your bag is empty!
Untie the strap.
Look into the bag
Take a look at it -
There's nothing there!
The rich man thought: “But the bag is really empty, how skinny! What deer are there!” He untied the strap and looked into the bag. A cloud of gadflies burst out with a noise and flew towards his tent. The rich man rejoiced: “They will all turn into deer!” And he hurried after them. The devils laughed and sang:
Look: what a
Overeating fool
He will receive from the wolves
Finally deserved.
The rich man ran to the tent. He looks, all his deer are cut. These gadflies turned into wolves and killed his deer.
Since then, the younger brother became rich, and the older brother became poor. But the younger one gave him food, he did not drive the older one away, as he used to drive him away.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru