I had two older brothers. I lived with them.
When my older brothers went hunting, they returned with killed deer. We both boiled and fried deer meat. And we were always full.
One day my brothers went hunting again. And I was bored alone both in my home and near it. I just didn't know what to do.
And then I had a thought: “What kind of pile is this in the corner of our house? What could be in this pile?”
I raked up the dry grass, threw away the old skins and saw a box. He was all tied up with ropes. I untied the ropes and opened the box.
Hehehehe! There are so many valuable things here! Both gold and silver bars. I examined them and put them aside. I really wanted to know what was at the very bottom of the box.
I dug into it some more and found a gold long knife and a silver long knife. Two knives are such a great weapon. I took them, tucked them into my belt and also went into the forest. He walked quickly and cheerfully.
When I was already far from the dwelling, in a green valley, I noticed a small hut with a pointed roof. Entering the hut, I saw my older brothers sleeping. They slept soundly, and there was a lot of noise from their snoring.
I wanted to wake them up, but I remembered that I had scattered valuables in my hut and took two knives for myself - remembering this, I did not wake them up. I felt ashamed. And when they find out about everything, they will scold me.
I sat down in the yard. He sat there until dark. And then I heard that some creatures were sneaking along the valley along the river. I took a closer look. Uh-uh, yes, these are wolves. Wolf and she-wolf.
I became wary. The wolf, approaching, lay down and put his head on his paws. He looked at the left corner of the hut. The she-wolf, approaching, also lay down and put her head on her paws. She looked at the right corner of the hut. They lay there like they were waiting for someone.
I was shaking with fear. But he did not enter the hut. I was afraid to appear in front of my brothers with two knives in my belt.
Then I heard a new noise. He was stronger than before. Some other creature, breaking the bushes, was walking towards the hut. As it approached, I recognized it as a bear.
I trembled even more with fear. And the bear lay down, resting his head on his paws. He was looking straight at the entrance to the house.
A little time passed, and there was such a loud noise in the forest that I had never heard. It seemed as if the trees were collapsing one after another. The noise grew and I heard heavy, heavy footsteps. And a moment later I saw the creature. What kind of creature I don’t know at all. His upper jaw touched the clouds, and his lower jaw touched the ground. This is the creature that was approaching.
Horror overwhelmed me.
And then the bear said:
- Boy, the devil has come. He's clearly unusual. And your brothers’ dream is unusual. It was he, the devil, who made them sleep like that. I, the god of the beginning of the hills, came here to protect your brothers. But I'm afraid that I won't be able to protect them. And therefore it is better for you to quickly return to your home.
But I stayed. I could not run away, leaving my sleeping brothers.
And this devil stepped aside a little, and then went behind the house.
At that moment I heard the voice of the wolves:
“Boy, we also came to protect your brothers.”
The wolf and the she-wolf went to meet the devil. They fought with him half the night. Then I heard a sound like a stone falling. And one more. I looked - the wolves were lying dead.
Then this huge devil came into the side of the hut. And then a bear came out to meet him. They fought throughout the other half of the night. Before dawn I heard a sound like a very large stone falling. I looked and the bear was lying dead.
Now this devil, without even looking at me, headed towards the entrance to the dwelling. Then I grabbed both knives from my belt. And he hit the devil on the neck with a long golden knife. I cut his neck, but he did not die. He was still as menacing and strong. His head attacked me. I stabbed her with a long silver knife. And as soon as she fell, his upper body attacked me. I raised the long golden knife again. I hit the upper part of the body, and I saw that the lower part was attacking me. I stabbed her with a long silver knife. Then I cut the whole devil into pieces and scattered them - to the grass, and the trees, and the birds, and the animals.
Afterwards I looked into the house. My brothers were still sleeping, but not as soundly as before—they moved a little. I decided that they would wake up soon and hurried home.
Entering the house, I immediately lay down and pretended to be asleep.
And then I heard - my brothers were returning. One said:
- When our guardians, both the wolves and the bear, were killed, who saved us? Thanks to whom did we stay alive?
The second brother said:
— When we were walking through the forest, I noticed the footprint of our younger brother.
The first brother did not believe it:
- No. With such a powerful monster?.. Such a small boy - how could he know how to save us?
They entered the house and again talked about the same thing.
Then I got up and told my brothers that when they went hunting, I stirred up a pile in the corner, opened the drawer, scattered all the valuables and took two knives - gold and silver. Then he came to the small hut where they slept, saw wolves and a bear and fought with the monster.
After listening to me, they decided:
- If so, then wield these two knives!
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru